Unlikely Alliances
by redfrog
Summary: My version of the gangs 6th year. Lots of new powers and ships. HPGW, HGRW, RLNT and more. Hope you all like it! Story is complete, 50 chapters long. Enjoy!
1. Chapters 1 through 15

Harry Potter and the Unlikely Alliances

Chapter 1: How to Cope

Harry Potter the Boy who lived, that was how everyone in the wizarding world thought of him. He was the one they placed all their hopes in. But Harry didn't want to think about that, he didn't want to think about the prophesy Dumbledore told him about at the end of last year. He didn't want to think about the future. He didn't want to think or feel at all. He just wanted all of it to stop. Every time he started to think he saw Sirius' face as he fell though the veil and a fresh wave of tears cascaded down his face.

He was back at Number 4 Privet Drive and the Dursleys were leaving him alone. He was thankful for that; at least he could lie in his room without fearing Dudley or Uncle Vernon laughing at his tears. He misses Sirius terribly, his heart ached every time he though of his godfather. Harry still blamed himself for Sirius' death, if he had only worked harder on oclumency it never would have happened. Every time he thought this, a tiny little voice in the back of his mind told him that Sirius would have died eventually just because he cared so much about him. Everyone Harry loved as a parent died. He was all alone, he had no real family.

Another small voice at the back of his mind, a stronger one, reminded Harry that he was not alone. He had Ron and Hermoine. They were his best friends. They had been through everything together. Harry picked up his photo album that Hagrid had given him at the end of his first year at Hogwarts. He looked at the moving pictures of his parents and Sirius smiling at him. Even though his heart ached for them, he always felt better when he could see their faces. He turned to a photo of Ron, Hermoine and himself and laughed because the Ron and Hermoine in the picture were arguing.

Harry really missed his friends. They had been writing him every few days, but since the owl could be intercepted their letters were short. The letters usually told him to remember they care about him and to close his mind before he went to sleep. Every time he read the words 'close your mind' he would remember how stupid he was to let Voldemort trick him like that. He would always blame himself for allowing Voldemort to manipulate his mind and for dragging Sirius away from safety. But that pesky voice at the back of his mind told him that it wasn't entirely his fault. It reminded him that the only person to blame for all his sorrow was Voldemort. Voldemort had taken his parents when he was only a baby, had forced him to live with his aunt and uncle who hated him and were horrible to him. Voldemort had tried to kill him on several occasions, had tried to kill Ginny Weasley and his servants killed Cedric Diggory and Sirius, the only parent figure he had ever known. Harry decided to listen to the voice. "It's all Voldemort's fault!" Harry said through clenched teeth.

The words from the prophesy floated to the surface of his thoughts, "The one with the strength to defeat the dark lord will be born as the 7th month diesâ one cannot live while the other survives." Harry had been terrified at the thought that he would have to kill or be killed. He didn't want to become a murderer. The more he thought about all the lives that Voldemort had taken or destroyed: his family, Sirius, Cedric, Neville's parents, the list was endless. The more he thought of all these lives torn to pieces, the more he realized that he **wanted** to be the one to bring down Voldemort. Harry realized the only way to make sense of his parents and Sirius' deaths was to destroy Voldemort before he could hurt any more families.

For the first time in the month since Harry had been back at Privet Drive, he felt alive. He got out of bed and went downstairs to eat, finally hungry for once. His aunt Petunia was in the kitchen and jumped slightly when Harry walked in. Harry had been like a ghost since he returned, rarely moving from his room, not sleeping and when he did sleep he would wake the house with his nightmares, and he rarely ate. Harry ignored his aunt and took and apple and some cheese from the refrigerator.

"Um, Harry?" Aunt Petunia asked softly, she didn't want to upset him and have that awful man with the scary eye come to the house. When Harry turned to look at her she continued. "We are going to visit Aunt Marge tomorrow, with what happened the last time we though it better if we go alone." Petunia said trying to gloss over the incident where Marge got Harry so angry by insulting his parents that he blew her up to the size of a killer whale and the Ministry of Magic officials had to come and deflate her and modify her memory.

"Where am I going while you are gone, or are you letting me stay here by myself?" Harry asked her knowing he had a better chance of Professor Snape professing his undying love to him than to be left alone in their "perfect" house.

"You'll be staying with Mrs. Figg; she has graciously agreed to watch you for the day." Petunia Dursley told him, as if to tell him that he should be grateful to have someone willing to watch him. "She will be arriving tomorrow morning right after we leave."

"Wait!" Harry shouted in a state of shock, "You mean I don't have to go to her house?" He asked unbelieving his luck. He hated all of Mrs. Figg's cats.

"Well, we, umm" His aunt started, not knowing how to continue without upsetting her nephew. "You're not allowed to leave the house" letting it hang while looking around for Uncle Vernon who would get very upset if he overheard her talking with Harry about such things. "That man said you either had to be here or be with me at all times."

"Dumbledore said that?" Harry asked surprised that his aunt was brave enough to talk about it since she hated and feared magic so much. She had always treated Harry like sludge because of his magic ability.

"Shhh! Be quiet before your uncle hears you!" Petunia whispered. "Now be good and stay here when we are gone, we don't want a replay of last year." She shuddered at the memory of Dudley and the effects of the Dementors.

"Fine, I won't go outside." Harry said , even surprising himself with how nice he was being to his aunt before heading back up to his room with his snack.

Once back in his room, Harry decided to start his homework for the summer holidays. Since he had been so catatonic for the last month, dwelling on Sirius' death, the thought of all his homework had never crossed his mind. He had a 4 foot essay for Snape due on the "Proper Way to Brew a Potion," as well as essays for transfiguration, charms, herbologry and history of magic. Harry started with his transfiguration essay on "How to Detect and Anamagi." He had almost ruined the parchment when he cried after remembering Sirius in his dog form chasing the train at Platform 9 ¾ at the beginning of last school year.

After putting the rest of his assignments on hold, he decided to actually read the Daily Prophets he had been getting. Hermoine had scolded him last year when he had only been reading the front page. It seemed the Daily Prophet finally believed that Voldemort was back. There was even an article about the fight in the Ministry; luckily nothing was mentioned about his friend or him. Harry hated being in the paper, he hated being famous. Who wanted to be famous because your parents were murdered and an evil madman was trying to kill you? There was an article about the Death Eaters that were captured at the Ministry. Harry felt slightly better knowing that Lucius Malfoy was rotting in a cell at Azkaban, at least until the Dementors turned on them. Harry had no doubts that it would happen. If Professor Dumbledore said something was going to happen, it would, it was as simple as that.

Thinking about the Death Eaters reminded Harry of how Sirius died. Bellatrix Lestrange had stunned him and he fell through the veil. Harry wasn't sure which death eater he hated more, Bellatrix Lestrange or Peter Petigrew. Petigrew, aka Wormtail, had cost him his parents' lives, framed Sirius and killed Cedric Diggory. On the other hand Bellatrix killed Sirius, the only parent figure he had left, and she was evil. Harry knew that Wormtail was just a sniveling, scared wizard who wanted powerful friends, who would turn on those friends in a second if he thought it would help him. But Bella, she enjoyed serving the Dark Lord. She takes pleasure in torturing and killing, where as Wormtail is terrified of it. As much as Wormtail had cost him, Harry knew the one he wanted to see dead was Bellatrix. As Harry thought about it, he realized he really did want Bellatrix dead. He didn't want here behind bars again, she had been to Azkaban and survived, no she deserved death.

Harry had grown up a lot in the month since school had ended. He was only 15, almost 16, and he had to be the savior of the wizarding world. He was no longer the naive kid he used to be, he was now a warrior, a fighter in the upcoming war. He wad going to learn everything he could next year at school, anything that would help him defeat Voldemort and his death eaters, anything that would help him avenge the deaths of his parents, Cedric and especially Sirius.

Chapter 2: Surprise Visitors

The next morning Harry work up feeling fully rested. When he remembered the Dursleys would be gone all day he smiled for the first time since Sirius' death. "Time to start living again," he told himself, "and what a better day to do it then when the Dursleys are gone out!" Harry got dressed and went downstairs for breakfast. He hadn't seen his massive cousin Dudley in a while and thought he might enjoy teasing him a bit before they left.

"Now listen here boy," Uncle Vernon started after breakfast, "you keep your tongue around Mrs. Figg; we don't want the neighbors knowing about your abnormality."

"Yes sir," Harry said falsely sweet, "But I'm not sure Mad-Eye would appreciate me being a wizard being called and abnormality." He loved how they all flinched at the word wizard and paled when he mentioned Mad-Eye as they rushed to leave the table and get to Marge's house.

It wasn't long after the Dursleys left that the doorbell chimed and Harry opened the door to find Mrs. Figg and she had Remus Lupin, Ron Wesley and Hermoine Granger with her! "Harry!" Hermoine screeched wrapping him in a tight hug.

"Wow, this is great. Its great to see you guys!" Harry said letting them into the house. He had thought the day would go well, but he never imagined his best friends would show up at his door to make it fantastic.

"The Dursleys treating you well Harry?" Remus Lupin, friend to Harry's parents asked him. Harry nodded his consent before asking the most obvious question. "What are you all doing here? I mean I'm glad to see you and all, but how did you know to come today?"

"I owled them as soon as Vernon asked me to watch you. I thought since you can't go outside you should at least be allowed some company." Mrs. Figg said.

"Thank you, I was afraid I would have to go the whole summer without seeing you guys!" Harry said as Ron and Hermoine grinned at him. The three went up to his bedroom. "It's kind of messy, but here it is." Harry said as they went in. "At least it's better than the cupboard under the stairs!"

Harry and Ron sat on his bed while Hermoine sat in his desk chair. "I was wondering why I hadn't gotten a letter in a few days, now I know1" Harry said happily.

"Yeah, we were so excited about coming that we didn't want to write and spoil the surprise. The look on your face when you opened the door was priceless!" Ron sniggered.

"How are you doing Harry?" Hermoine asked trying not to show worry in her voice. Harry's letters had been very short and she knew he must be hurting.

"I'm doing much better. I finally decided that I wasn't totally at fault for what happened and that I needed to start living again." Harry said. "I miss him so much sometimes though, it's still very hard." He said on the verge of tears. Ron put his hand on Harry's shoulder to show he cared. Hermoine tried not to cry herself as she said" You know we are here for you if you need anything."

"Thanks 'Moine, but I think I'll be ok with time. Besides, I have a lot to focus on this year coming year. I want to start up the D.A. again as soon as we get back to Hogwarts." Harry told them, he wasn't ready to tell them about the prophesy yet. He knew Ron would flip out and Hermoine would cry hysterically. He just wanted to enjoy his friends company for a while without the prophesy hanging over all of them.

"That sounds like a good idea Harry, "Hermoine answered, "We all should be at the top of abilities with the war that we know is going to be starting."

"And now that Umbridge is gone, we won't have to sneak around as much!" Ron pointed out, smiling that they were freed of the worst teacher Hogwarts ever had. She made Professor Snape seem sweet and cuddly!

"Oh, that reminds me, there was an article in this mornings Daily Prophet saying that all educational decrees made last year have been rescinded! "Hermoine told them, "It says a ministry inquiry has been requested by Hogwarts board of governors wanting an investigation into how the decrees were placed into effect in the first place."

"Yeah, Dad said Fudge is getting a lot of criticism, especially now that everyone knows you were telling the truth about Volâ Volâ Voldemort." Ron said. Harry smiled that Ron was finally trying to say Voldemort's name.

"I wouldn't be surprised if the public calls for a new minister of magic. If he had listened in the beginning then maybe" Hermoine trailed off.

"Maybe Sirius wouldn't have died." Harry finished, and when he saw Hermione's horrified expression he continued, "But maybe now we'll be able to get someone who will do good for the magic community, not just for himself. Besides, I'm not sure it wouldn't have happened anyway. Voldemort enjoys killing those that I love." Harry said looking down.

"Oi, Harry, with Umbridge gone you'll be able to play Quidditch again!" Ron yelled out unexpectedly.

"Ron!" Hermoine scolded, "Don't you ever think about anything other than Quidditch?" as she shook her head, but she was thankful for the change of subject.

"What about Ginny? Won't she want to stay on as seeker, she was pretty good." Harry said bummed, he loved Quidditch but he wouldn't take the spot from Ginny.

"No, Ginny wants to try for chaser; she said so at the end of last year. So you can take your spot back and Ginny can stay on the team!" Hermoine joined in, it was so like Harry to worry about other before himself.

"Excellent!" Harry said feeling happy for the first time in a long time. "Wow, it's great to see you guys!" He couldn't believe how great his day was turning out; the Dursleys gone for a day and his friends coming to visit.

"Harry, Ron, Hermoine, lunch is ready!" Lupin yelled up the stairs. The trio went downstairs to see a table full of food.

"Wow, this look great," Harry said, "Dudley is still on his diet and I don't get anything good to eat."

"Well, I love coking and I don't get to cook for such a large crowd very often." Mrs. Figg said as they all sat down and began to eat.

"Arabella this food is fantastic. "Lupin said as they ate, stuffing themselves with the food.

"Yeah, you should open a restaurant!" Ron said, "I thought my mum was a good cook, but this is fantastic!" Mrs. Figg blushed and looked down at her plate.

"Well I used to be a cook before I moved here to" she paused, "to retire."

"You mean before you moved here to watch over me and keep an eye on the muggles." Harry said as Lupin and Mrs. Figg looked stunned. "I figured it out as soon as I found out you were a squib" Harry told her with a smile. "I'm sorry you had to give up job." Harry told her thinking that here was another person whose life was messed up thanks to Voldemort.

"Now Harry, I was only a cook in a very bad muggle diner, nothing special. I had fun watching you grow up, especially since your powers surfaced. It was fun to watch your magic grow." Mrs. Figg said.

"So how had the summer been treating you Harry? Are you doing alright?" Lupin asked as lunch ended.

"Yeah, I'll be alright, it will just take time." Harry told him, "how are you doing, he was your friend too."

"It's tough Harry, some days are harder than others, but I'll be fine. We'll get through this together Harry," Remus said giving him a hug, "We're the only Marauder's left to carry on the tradition!" Remus was the only real Marauder left, but Harry made him feel that James was close by.

"The map was very useful last year trying to bypass Umbridge and all her rules," Harry told him.

"This year will be much better I hope, at least it can't get any worse!" Hermoine said shocking the others; she was never on to say anything bad about school.

"I think you two are being a bad influence on her, "Lupin joked to Ron and Harry, "when I was teaching Hermoine never would have admitted to disliking something at school, well except for Draco Malfoy."

"Ha! Bet he's not so smug now that his Death Eater daddy dearest got tossed in Azkaban!" Harry said, the feeling of slight retribution from knowing he was partially responsible swelled inside him. "Now we just need to get the rest of these evil wizards in there and the Dementors out!"

"Why do they continue to let the Dementors control Azkaban when they know they will join Voldemort?" Hermoine asked the adults, "It doesn't make any sense!"

"The order is wondering the same thing; now that the public knows he is back they should have immediately seized control back. Fudge just won't budge on the subject." Lupin sighed.

"Maybe Fudge is under the imperious curse and is working for the Death Eaters!" Ron piped up, always the one to jump straight to conspiracies.

"I read the ministry is short magical law enforcement personnel as well as Aurors, when Voldemort disappeared Fudge had the personnel cut back believing they would never need full 'wartime' strength again." Hermoine added.

"That is true, they are training quite a few new magical law enforcement officers as well as Hit Wizards, but you can't just hurry and train an Auror." Lupin told them," Fudge just played right into Voldemort's hands."

"Hey, he might be under the Death Eater's influence, all this seems too much coincidence. I'm just saying the order should keep a closer eye on our 'beloved' minister." Ron added.

"I'll make sure to pass along your concerns to the order Ron. You're right; it never hurts to be careful." Lupin told him.

"Speaking of careful," Harry started, "My uncle was making such a fuss this morning making sure that I'm careful not to show off my 'abnormality' to Mrs. Figg." Harry laughed, "Oh what I wouldn't give to see his face if he found out that you knew what I was!"

"I bet his head would explode and your aunt would faint with fright that the other neighbors would find out!" Ron added laughing.

"Yes, but that wouldn't be safe for Harry, we don't want them locking him up under the stairs when they go out instead of letting him stay with me." Mrs. Figg said.

"They wouldn't dare, they are terrified that Mad-Eye is going to show up and do something 'unnatural' to their poor Duddikins!" Harry laughed.

"Oh, speaking of unnatural Harry," Ron said handing him a bag from inside his coat, "Sweets courtesy of Fred and George!"

"Now Harry, don't go feeding your cousin any of those!" Hermoine scolded seeing the plan forming in Harry's mind. "I know he was horrible to you when you were younger, but you are a better person than he is, don't sink to his level." She finished sounding just like Ron's mum.

"Oi, Hermoine, don't go spoiling the only fun he's going to have!" Ron exclaimed.

"Yeah, it's the only way I can torture him with magic without being in trouble from the ministry!" Harry added, "Besides the canary creams are harmless, they wear off very fast."

"Come on now Harry," Lupin said trying to hid his smile; Harry looked just like James when he was plotting a prank. "Oh, who am I kidding, I could never talk your dad out of anything, so why would I think you'd be any different." Lupin chuckled.

"But Professor!" Hermoine started to protest.

"You can call me Remus; I'm no longer your professor Hermoine." Lupin laughed. "Besides, if Harry's cousin was to 'accidentally' come across one of Harry's candies how anyone could blame Harry for his cousin not being able to control his sweet tooth."

"Yes!" Ron yelled, "I knew you were a real Marauder just masquerading as a professor! You were just too cool to be a real teacher"

"Yeah, I hope we have a good instructor this year. I really need to learn Defense this year; we all do since Voldemort is back. But either way, I'm starting the D.A. again as soon as school starts." Harry told them all.

"I think that's a great idea Harry. I'm glad to see you are thinking about teaching the D.A. again." Lupin smiled, "In fact, I was hoping you were going to say that, so here you go." He said taking a very tiny package from his pocket and placing it on the table. HE took out his want and did an enlargement charm on it. "These are three books I thought would come in handy for D.A. I thought they might give you some interesting reading over the summer."

"Wow," Harry said, "Thanks, these are great." He told him rising from the table and giving Remus a hug. "I'm lucky to have friends like you, 2 presents in one day and it's not even my birthday! Today is turning out to be a great day!"

"Time for tea!" Mrs. Figg said standing and gathering the tea and biscuits. "I hope you like the biscuits Harry; I know you haven't had any yet this summer."

"Thanks," they all said reaching for tea, chattering about the happenings in the wizarding world while drinking.

"Tea leaves" Harry mumbled, "I wonder who will be teaching divination this year? I hate having my death predicted every five minutes!"

"Let me read your tea leaves Harry," Lupin said taking Harry's cup, "I see a nice long life in a peaceful world with a family and kids." He said handing the cup back to Harry.

"Thanks, that's the nicest reading I've ever had." Harry laughed, but appreciated Lupin's faith in him. He knew about the prophesy and though Harry would be victorious.

"You should just drop that stupid class Harry, it can't teach you anything unless you are a true seer and we both know you just make up stuff in that class." Hermoine told him.

"You're probably right, but I don't want to pick up muggle studies or arithmacy so Ill just endure the torture. At least if Firenze keeps teaching he won't predict my death all the time." Harry told her.

They sat at the table discussing what was happening in each others lives. Mrs. Figg had adopted 2 more cats, Hermione's parents had received some sort of dental award (they were muggle dentists), and Ron's dad was getting a lot more respect at work with Malfoy being gone and Fudge admitting that Voldemort is back. Fred and George's shop was doing very well.

"Mum is actually proud of Fred and George." Ron said, "Once she realized how much money could be made, it helped. Plus they are helping the ministry develop covert spy ware." Ron laughed, "Or at least they gave the ministry a bunch of extendable ears and are trying to figure out how you guys made the Marauder's map."

"We never told them it was you and dad and Sirius." Harry told Lupin, "Maybe you could help them out a little bit, even though it is nice having the only one. I feel like it's our secret, the Marauders and now Ron, Hermione's and mine." Harry added.

"If you three had a nickname your little 'group' would probably have broken as many rules as we did!" Lupin laughed. "Except you three don't break the law and never go looking to break the rule, adventures seem to find you!"

"Yeah, who would have thought a group of first years were the only ones brave and clever enough to try and protect the sorcerer's stone!" Ron laughed, "We were so naive we didn't even stop to think what would happen."

"We have had some interesting adventures," Harry added, "The incident with the time turner is still the weirdest thing I've ever done, I don't know how you did it all year Hermoine!"

"I don't know how I managed it all either," Hermoine laughed, "That stupid hourglass caused me so many headaches."

"That day you stormed out of Divination was priceless, and then you went and slapped Malfoy. I've never been so proud to be your friend." Ron told her blushing.

"I know you three can handle yourselves, but be careful this year." Lupin told them, "Be even more careful who you trust with your secrets." Lupin said thinking off all the problems that Wormtail caused them. "I know the three of you are inseparable, but be careful."

"And be careful around the children of the Death Eaters as well. Most of them are well on their way to joining the Dark Lord themselves." Mrs. Figg added.

"I'll have to be even more on guard around Malfoy. He hated me before and now I went and got his dad thrown in Azkaban!" Harry commented.

"This should be a very interesting school year for you three. I have a feeling some old alliances will falter and some new ones will be made." Lupin said.

"Oh, don't go all Trelawney on us!" Harry joked, "But seriously, I think you're right. This is the time when everyone will be choosing sides; we may even have Gryffindors who go over to the side of evil."

"But maybe by having you there as a reminder that Voldemort is not all powerful, we can turn some of those who are on the edge over to our side." Hermoine added, "I'm sure Dumbledore will do all he can to keep his students from joining Voldemort."

"Oh dear!" Mrs. Figg exclaimed, "Look at the time, we better clean up and get you three out of here before Harry's relatives come home!"

Once the house was 'spotless' again, they all headed for the door. "Thanks for bringing my friends with you Mrs. Figg." Harry told her.

"It was my pleasure dear; just remember to make it sound as if you had a horrible time to keep your uncle happy." She told him, stepping aside so he could say good bye to everyone else.

"Thanks for the books," Harry told Remus giving him a hug. "Try and see if I can go to the Burrow or someplace before the summer is out. I don't want to stay here if I don't have to."

"I'll see what I can do, but the only place they are going to let you go is headquarters. Do you think you're up to going back there?" Remus asked wondering if he was strong enough to go back to the house Sirius lived at.

"As long as you are there and the Weasleys and Hermoine, I know I'll be ok. It will be very hard, but I'll have to go there someday, so there is no use putting it off." Harry said putting on a brave face as he went to say goodbye to his best friends.

"Tell Fred and George thanks for the sweets," Harry told Ron. "It was great seeing you guys; write me when you get you OWLs!" He gave Ron a short hug and then Hermoine buried her head in his chest in a tight hug.

"You know we are here for you if you need anything Harry," she said, "owl us if you need to." She hugged him again before heading out the door with Ron and Remus.

"We'll just floo from your place Arabella, thanks for everything." Remus told Mrs. Figg as they left.

"Thanks again Mrs. Figg," Harry told her once the other three were gone, "I didn't realize how much I needed to see them until they showed up."

"You are very welcome Harry, now I am going to set up my knitting in the parlor and you should probably be in your room when they return." She told him, "I hate how they treat you, but I don't want them to guess I have any ties to the magical community."

"I understand, they hate me for what I am as it is, I don't want them to hate and snub you too." Harry said going up to his bedroom to read his new books. The first book he picked up was called '5,000 Ways to Defend Yourself from Unfriendly Spells.' Harry hadn't even finished the introduction of the book before he heard the Dursleys' car pull in. It was a good thing his friends left when they did!

Harry stayed up very late reading his book. There were all sorts of defense spells and protective charms to guard entire rooms or groups of people. There was an entire chapter on the Fidelius Charm, Harry was amazed at how much it took to become a secret keeper. His favorite chapter was the one on Patronus', even though he knew the spell it was interesting to read about how you patronus forms from memories of times when you felt safe and secure. It made Harry sure that he felt safe and happy with his parents before they died, if he hadn't he wouldn't have his fathers anamagi form as his patronus.

Chapter 3: Sweets and Squibs

Harry awoke to a slight tapping on his window in the morning. There were two owls outside his window. Once Harry had taken the letters from them, they swooped away. Hedwig hooted softly to Harry. "You can go play for awhile girl, just come back later incase I have a reply letter." He told his beautiful snowy owl as he reached for the first letter. It looked like an official letter from the ministry. It read:

Dear Mr. Potter:

Due to the removal of all Educational Decrees issued during your last term at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, you have been reinstated as an active Quidditch player. Your broom will be returned to you at the start of the school year.

Sincerely,

Irmelda Bagshot

Dept. of Magical Games and Sports

Harry smiled and placed the letter back in the envelope. He had thought he would be allowed to play again, but it felt great to know for sure. The second letter was from Lupin, he recognized the handwriting. Except when he opened the letter there was nothing written on it. Harry turned the parchment over in his hands several time before he realized the message must be hidden in case the owl was intercepted. "Now what?" Harry asked himself, and then he remembered the Marauder's Map. Still Harry wasn't sure if the password to reveal the map would work without his wand. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good," he told the letter, immediately long lines of Lupin's scrawling handwriting appeared.

Dear Harry:

I discussed your desire to leave Privet Drive with professor Dumbledore this morning. We are working on safeguards to ensure your protection when away from your aunt. We will not owl you of when we will pick you up. It may be tomorrow or next month, try to be as ready as possible. I know it will be very difficult on you coming back to Headquarters. It was difficult for me as well. Talking about Sirius will help you start to heal. I hope when you arrive we can spend some time together. I would love to tell you about some of the adventures your father, Sirius and I had. There are some other personal things I hope we can talk about as well. Just know that I am thinking about you and will be here for you when you need me to.

Your Friend,

Remus J. Lupin

Harry had silent tears falling down his face as he said, "Mischief managed," and watched Remus' caring words fade away. He wasn't as close to Remus as he had been to Sirius. Harry figured that it was because Lupin had been his professor, but it would be nice to talk about Sirius and his parents. He liked talking with Remus; he reminded him a lot of Hermoine. Harry smiled, he guessed Hermoine was the Remus equivalent, he was the James equivalent and Ron was the Sirius equivalent. It was funny to think that his dad had done some of the same stupid things when he was in school.

Harry decided to pack up all the stuff he had thrown all around his room in the hopes the Order would be coming sooner rather than later. He put away everything in his trunk, leaving a few changes of clothes at the top and his book out on his desk. He would be ready in less than one minute when they came to get him.

He smiled as headed down for breakfast with a pocketful of Weasley Wizarding Wheezes sweets. He would just accidentally drop one on the floor for Dudley to find. Fred and George had put a note in the bag explaining that all the effects would wear off over time, none lasting more than an hour, so that he wouldn't have to do magic to reverse the effect and could even try some himself if he wanted.

"Good morning!" Harry said as he sat down at the table helping himself to breakfast. The Dursleys looked scared at how cheerful Harry was being. "Did you have a nice time at Aunt Marge's?" He asked, knowing how much it bothered his uncle when he talked to them.

"What are you up to boy?" Vernon grunted, glaring at Harry. "You haven't said two words to us all summer and now you are all smiles. We go away for one day" Vernon said as he put two and two together. "What did you do while we were gone boy?" Vernon bellowed. Harry enjoyed watching his uncle turn purple.

"Nothing, I'm only smiling because I got a letter this morning, that my friends that you talked to at the station may be stopping by for a little surprise inspection sometime soon." The words had the exact effect Harry was hoping for, the Dursleys looked terrified. The rest of breakfast went quietly, with his uncle's eyes darting around the room like a caged animal.

"Would you like some more fruit Harry?" Aunt Petunia asked trying to ensure Harry told the wizards he was being treated well.

"No thank you, I'll just eat some of my candy and cakes I have in my room," Harry said smirking at the piggy look on Dudley's fat face. He 'accidentally' let a piece pf candy fall from his pocket to the floor. It was a Mirth-mellow, it makes the person happy and laughing for about a ½ hour. Harry went up to his room to read his book, listening for signs of Dudley's laughter.

Harry didn't have to wait for long, he soon heard Dudley laughing at the bottom of the stairs. "What's so funny Duddikins?" Aunt Petunia asked.

"Nothing," Dudley told her, Harry slipped out to the stairs, making sure nobody saw him, or they would know he did something to Dudley. Dudley had the largest stupidest grins on his face.

"Are you sure son, you look so happy all of a sudden." Petunia continued, looking intently at her son.

"Nothing mum, I'm just in a good mood I guess," Dudley laughed. Petunia looked worried, Dudley was never in a good mood, and something had to be wrong. "I'm going to go outside and see if Piers wants to hang out."

"Ok, sweetums, just be careful." Petunia said as Dudley headed for the door. Harry was disappointed that Dudley was leaving so he couldn't enjoy the show, but it was great that even Dudley didn't figure out it was the candy he ate.

"Dumb kid, probably thinks it's a sugar high since he's been on his diet so long." Harry mused to himself. "Next time I'll try a sweet with a little more prank to it." Harry decided to write a letter to Fred and George to tell them the Mirth-mellow could be a little stronger.

Dear Fred & George,

Thanks for the bag of sweets. I tried the Mrith-mellow on Dudley this morning; it made him laugh and smile. I was kind of hoping for some side splitting, fall down and clutch your gut hysterics, but I'm sure it will be a good seller during finals. It'll be a nice way to relieve some stress without having to take a calming potion. I'm planning on slipping him something more malicious later on. I'm glad the shop is working out well for you and that mum Weasley is on your side now. I was hoping she wouldn't blame me for giving you the start-up galleons. Tell Ginny 'Hello' for me and give my best to the rest of the family. Hope to see you soon.

Your Friend,

Harry Potter

Harry placed the letter in an envelope and waited for Hedwig to get back. He liked writing the twins; he could actually talk about the joke shop without fear of the letter being intercepted. Harry read his book the rest of the morning until it was time for lunch. Dudley was back to being his old piggy self, even though Aunt Petunia keep looking at him funny. Harry had to try and keep in a laugh as he though what his aunt would be like if she had eaten the Mirth-Mellow.

Harry decided the best time to slip Dudley another sweet was when his uncle was at work. So he slowly took a Coughing Caramel out and dropped it to the floor again. He knew Dudley was stupid enough to eat this one too. The effect of the candy only last 15 minutes, but that is 15 minutes of straight coughing! Harry smiled at how Dudley's eyes got large as he spotted the candy on the floor. When lunch was over, Harry walked very slowly up to his room. He hadn't even reached the bottom of the stairs yet when Dudley started coughing. Aunt Petunia went nuts, trying to get him to drink water, asking him what he ate, was he choking. "Oh, my baby is choking!" She screeched frantically running around the room. Dudley was crying he was coughing so much. But neither one of them figured out what the cause was.

"Oh, don't worry Duddikins, Mommy will figure out what's wrong." Petunia reassured a scared looking Dudley. Harry wondered when he would ever learn his lesson that you shouldn't eat anything that you pick up off the floor, especially with a wizard living in the house. "Potter! Potter get down here!" Petunia screeched.

"Yes Aunt Petunia?" Harry said going into the Kitchen, "Oi, what's wrong with you Dudley?" He asked feigning ignorance.

"I need to take Dudley to the doctor's office, you need to come with us. Go get in the car. Come on Duddikins, I'll just get my coat and we'll be off." She said heading to the closet. Harry took this moment to drop another piece of candy to the floor, this time it was a Puking Peppermint! The puking lasted 45 min, Harry couldn't wait to see the muggle doctors face when Dudley puked every 30 seconds and they couldn't find anything wrong with him!

"How thick can you get?" Harry thought to himself as Dudley picked up the mint and put it in his pocket on the way to the car. They were to the Doctors office in about 5 minutes. According to Harry's watch Dudley only had 2 or 3 more minutes of coughing. Dudley finally stopped coughing as they were waiting to see the Doctor. Harry flipped through a muggle magazine while watching Dudley out of the corner of his eye. As soon as Aunt Petunia walked up to see how long they were going to have to wait, Dudley popped the Puking Peppermint into his mouth. Harry grinned behind the magazine; Dudley really was as stupid as he thought he was.

Less than 2 minutes later Dudley jumped up and waddled as fast as his fat legs would carry him to the bathroom. Harry could hear him retching all the way out in the waiting room. "Dudley, are you alright sweetheart? Aunt Petunia said franticly from the other side of the door.

Dudley came out of the bathroom looking perfectly fine. "I think it might have been all the coughing." He told his mother, but didn't even make it to his seat before hurrying back into the bathroom for round two. Petunia raced up to the receptionist and told her what was going on with her "Poor Duddikins."

"Has he eaten anything odd this morning or for lunch?" The lady behind the counter asked as Harry buried his face in his magazine to hide his smile.

"No, of course not, my son is on a stringent diet. He only eats the freshest fruits, vegetables and other healthy foods." Petunia told to lady. Harry could hear Dudley starting round three in the bathroom; boy did he love Fred and George!

When they finally got home, Dudley was beside himself. The doctor had told him he could only have chicken soup and lots of fluids and to stay in bed for two days. "But I feel perfectly fine, I'm not sick at all, I got it all out!" He complained.

"I know you think you did, but the Doctor said bed rest, so off you go." She told him leading him upstairs. "I'll bring you up a nice bowl of soup in an hour; you just take a little nap until then to get up your strength."

"I don't need a nap, my strength is perfectly fine!" Dudley yelled as he went upstairs. Harry headed up to his bedroom to add this to his letter to Fred & George. They would be so proud of him, 3 prank candies in one day and nobody the wiser to what was happening.

"I am a Marauder!" Harry laughed to himself, thinking that his father and Sirius would be proud he finally gave Dudley a little payback. Harry finished the letter to Fred and George and sent it with Hedwig who was back. "Take this to Fred and George, Ok girl?" Harry said as he stroked her feathers. She gave him an affectionate nip before flying out the open window. Harry pulled out the bag of candy and unwrapped a Levitation Lolli, the more you lick the higher you go, is what the not said. He stuck it in his mouth and felt a tingling sensation before lifting an inch or so off the ground. "Cool!" Harry said out loud, taking another lick and going higher. Pretty soon Harry was floating in a sitting position above his bed reading his book. Every time he would sink a little he would take another lick of the lolli. Harry decided that giving his Tri-Wizard winnings to Fred and George was one of the best decisions he had ever made. They had already made his life more fun! Now if only the order would come and take him to Headquarters it would be a perfect day.

Harry looked at his calendar that counted down the days until he would go back to Hogwarts. It was only two weeks until his birthday! He was going to be sixteen. Dudley had turned sixteen a few weeks ago and the Dursleys were going to buy him a car for next school year. His aunt had told Dudley it was to be used to come home and visit, yeah right! Dudley and his gang terrorizes people when they were on their bikes, Harry was scared to think what would happen with Dudley behind the wheel of a car!

"AHHH!" Aunt Petunia screamed from the Kitchen, she sounded terrified. Harry grabbed his wand and rushed downstairs (Always the Hero).

"What's wrong Aunt Petunia?" Harry asked running into the room ready to strike if they were under attack.

"What is that horrible creature in my garden? It's hideous, oh Harry get it away before the neighbors see it!" She shrieked pointing out the window. Harry looked out and gasped. There was a thestral in his backyard. A thestral was a magical being that only could be seen by those who had seen death, and even then only by wizards! Harry spun around staring at his aunt.

"The neighbors won't see it; in fact you shouldn't even be able to see it!" Harry said narrowing his eyes at her. "That is a thestral; they are magical creatures that you can only see if you have witnessed death. Who did you see die?" Harry said. There was something about his voice that made Petunia answer him.

"I watched Vernon's mother die, she took her last breath with us watching. It was before Dudley was born." Petunia whispered, "But what if the neighbors have seen death also? What if they see that horrible horse thing out there?" She asked again.

"Like I said before, they won't. The only people who can see them are magical." Harry told her, waiting for realization to hit her. His aunt was a squib, or maybe even a witch! How could that be possible?

"Butâ Butâ That's just not possible, why would I see them then?" She asked looking scandalized.

"That's a very good question," Harry said, "Now, tell me about my grandparents, your parents. What did they do when they found out my mother was a witch?" He asked her. He vaguely remembered Petunia saying they had been proud when she got her letter.

"They were very excited, they kept telling her how wonderful it was and how they knew she had hidden talents." Petunia told him, she was too shocked to even think about refusing to answer the questions.

"Did anyone from the school come and explain things to her?" Harry asked.

"No, she seemed confused at first, but the next day seemed happy and excited. I thought maybe the letter explained everything." Petunia said.

"How did she get her school supplies?" Harry asked. He had a suspicion that Petunia was a squib and her parents never told her.

"My parents just told me to go to one of my girlfriends houses for the day; they were going to take Lily to get her supplies. I had seen the list. That was when I realized what a freak she was, there was no way I would touch half of the stuff on that list and yet she seemed very excited, giddy almost." Petunia told him, staring off into space remembering the past.

"What did your parents do for a living?" Harry asked, by now very curious. It sounded like his grandparents were wizards!

"My mother worked as a nurse in a hospital in London, she took the train to work everyday. I remember asking her why she didn't work closer to home and she told me the best hospitals were in London, and she liked working for the best. She was always too busy when she went to work; we never went to visit her." Petunia told him.

"Do you remember the name of the hospital?" Harry asked.

"It was Saint something; I think it started with an M." She said.

"Saint Mungos?" Harry asked. If his grandmother worked at St. Mungos she was definitely a witch! Petunia just nodded; amazed that Harry could have guessed the name. "What about your dad?" Harry asked.

"He did something with insurance or appraising. He would go to people's houses and asses the level of insurance they needed or something like that. He went all over the country, sometimes he would be gone for weeks at a time." She said, "He never went into too much detail, but I never asked. His job seemed boring."

"Could you call Mrs. Figg and have her come over, I want to talk with her about something." Harry asked his aunt, "If I'm right she can clear this whole mess up." Petunia went to call Mrs. Figg and Harry sat deep in thought on the sofa. Why would no one have told him? He was positive his aunt was a squib now, but he didn't think he should tell her. She had lives her whole life thinking she was "normal," sure she had made his life a living hell, but he was afraid what his uncle would say if he knew. Mrs. Figg was in the order; she would know what to do with this information.

As Mrs. Figg arrived she noticed the Thestral and wondered if it was the reason for the phone call. She was let into the house by Petunia, who looked rather paler than normal. "Mrs. Figg, can you see thestrals?" Harry asked once they were sitting in the kitchen, Petunia had gone to check on Dudley.

"Yes, squibs can see them just like wizards, I saw the one outback. But don't worry no one else will be able to see it." She said wondering why Harry hadn't been taught that in school.

"But my aunt can see it; she screamed and told me to get the ugly horse like creature out of her garden!" Harry whispered to her, "do you realize what this means?"

"Oh, dear!" Mrs. Figg said eyes popping, "I need to get to the order, they will need to know this piece of information. Very good thinking of calling me over Harry."

"But what do I tell her?" He asked, "Surely not the truth, it would destroy her perfect little life."

"Make something up dear, whatever it takes. I'll let you know what the order says as soon as I can." Mrs. Figg told him leaving.

"What was all that about?" His aunt asked him when she realized Mrs. Figg had left.

"I told her I thought I saw one of her cats run up the tree in the backyard. I wanted to know if she could see it too. She couldn't. She went home to check on her cats. I'm guessing the only reason you can see it is because you are related to wizards." Harry told her, it was the best lie he could come up with.

"Well, if that's true you better get it out of her before Vernon gets home. We will not talk about this again; you know how he gets about your abnormality." Petunia said going back to cleaning the kitchen.

"Yes, I'll go send it away right now." Harry said going out into the backyard. He was still curious why the thestral showed up in the first place. He walked up to it, petting it. "You have to get out of here, and you can't show anyone where this place is ok? I need you to try and forget you have ever been here. Now go back home." He told it. He wasn't sure how smart thestrals were, but he knew they had a great sense of direction, so he hoped this one would listen and not come back."

Harry went back inside, still thinking about the fact that his grandparents were wizards. He wondered if his mother knew that she wasn't muggle born like she thought. He wished Hermoine was here, she would know exactly what was going on. What Harry really wanted was a book on pureblood ancestry. He wanted to see if he could really be a pureblood. Oh, wouldn't that just make Malfoy mad. He loved to tease Potter for being a half-blood, if her turned out to be a pureblood, he'd love to see Malfoy's face when he found out! Harry was still contemplating his ancestry when he heard a loud 'pop" from the hallway. Someone had just apparated into his house!

He grabbed his wand just to be safe and slowly opened the door. Remus was standing in the hallway with Tonks and Mad-Eye Moody. "Come on Harry, we have to make this quick!" Lupin said walking into his room. Harry tossed his book into the trunk and locked it. Tonks shrunk his trunk and Hedwig's cage and stuck them in her pocket, before Harry was herded out the door and down the stairs. Harry saw the startled and scared look on Aunt Petunia's face when she saw the wizards. Lupin handed her a letter and told Harry they would be using floo powder, they were going to the Burrow first.

"Bye Aunt Petunia, I'll see you next summer." Harry told her as he followed Remus to the fireplace in the living room. "The Burrow," Harry said and was engulfed in green flames.

Chapter 4: Back at Headquarters

As soon as the swirling stopped, strong arms were pulling him out of the fireplace. "Good to see you Harry." Mr. Weasley said dusting the soot off. "Now we really must be going." He led Harry through the Kitchen and into the living room. "We're using a portkey to get us near Headquarters." He handed Harry a corner of a knitted blanket that was usually on the back of the arm chair. "Hang on; it'll be any second now." As soon as the words had left Mr. Weasley's mouth the familiar sensation of being tugged started at his navel. Then his feet hit solid ground. They were in an alley way, about a block from headquarters. "Come on Harry, we need to be quick, it's not that safe out here." Mr. Weasley said, moving them quickly to 12 Grimuald Place, Harry still clutching the blanket from the armchair.

Harry saw number 12 appear as if out of thin air. He took a deep breath, "Here goes nothing," he thought. He was still unsure how the house was going to affect him, but thinking about Sirius made his feet feel like lead.

"Come on Harry, I know it's hard, but it's not safe out here." Arthur Weasley told him, half pushing him through the door. The first thing Harry noticed was that it seemed brighter in the house and it smelled cleaner. Once he looked around he noticed that the house looked cleaner as well.

"Harry!" Ginny yelled from the top of the stairs, "Oh, it's so good to see you!" she said coming down the stairs to hug him.

"Hey Gin, it's good to see you too." Harry said breaking out of the hug. Something was very different about the house; he knew it was something big. Then it hit him, the portrait of Mrs. Black wasn't screaming. "What happened to Mrs. Black's portrait?" Harry asked.

"We'll tell you about all that when we get inside the kitchen, I'm sure everyone wants to see you first!" Mr. Weasley told him. There were a lot of changes to the house since Sirius' death and he didn't want to be the one to tell Harry, they had all decided it would be Lupin's job. "Look what I found wandering the street." Mr. Weasley joked walking into the kitchen with Harry.

"Harry!" Ron, Hermoine, Fred, George and Mrs. Weasley yelled. "How good to see you dear." Mrs. Weasley said wrapping Harry in one of her motherly bear hugs. "You must be starving, you look so thin, weren't the muggles feeding you? Here have some stew." She said pushing him down into the chair next to Ron and shoving a huge bowl of beef stew in front of him.

"Thanks Mrs. Weasley," Harry had known her long enough to not argue and just eat the soup.

"We weren't expecting you this early Harry, we though we'd have to wait until at least next month!" Hermoine told him smiling, "This is great!"

"Yeah, what are you doing here so early?" Ron asked, "Did something happen with the muggles?"

"You didn't feed your cousin any of that candy did you?" Hermoine asked, hoping that wasn't the reason he was there.

"I did give him some of the candy, which by the way work very well, but no that's not the reason I'm here." Harry told them winking at Fred and George. They were beside themselves in laughter so Harry assumed they had gotten his letter. "I asked Remus to talk the order into letting me come early." Harry said. "So I think that's the reason they hurried me out of there." Harry said looking at Mr. Weasley would not meet his eyes. That confirmed Harry's suspicions, as soon as Mrs. Figg had talked to the order about his aunt, they pulled him out. There was definitely something going on.

"I'm sure you have lots of questions Harry, but Remus wants to talk to you as soon as he gets back." Mr. Weasley told him. Harry ate his soup in silence, wondering what Lupin needed to talk to him about. But he was definitely going to be asking about his aunt! "Ah, there they are now. They were just patrolling, making sure no one saw us enter." Mr. Weasley said as Remus, Tonks and Mad-Eye came into the kitchen.

Remus led Harry upstairs to his and Ron's old bedroom. "There are a lot of things we need to talk about Harry," Remus told him. "I'll start with the question you probably want answered the most. Yes, your aunt is a squib. She has no idea that her parents, your grandparents, were wizards." He could see Harry starting to form the question 'why?" "You see, when your grandparents married, they were cursed. They were told their children would not be magical, they would be squibs. So when your grandparents found out they were having a baby, they moved out of London and began a partial existence as muggles. They knew that their children would be harassed in the wizard community, squibs are treated horribly. So they never told their daughters what they were. Your grandmother kept her job as a healer and commuted on the train everyday, just to keep up the appearance of being a muggle. They even changed their name in the muggle world. Your grandfather, he took a muggle job as an insurance appraiser. He also was employed putting up protective charms around wizards houses. Petunia never knew, she of course is a squib, but for all accounts and purposes she's a muggle. Now your mother, she was the surprise. She started showing magical powers. Just small ones since she wasn't around magic she didn't know how to copy it. Then she got her letter from Hogwarts. Your grandparents were so happy for her, but since they had built her and Petunia's lives around a lie, they didn't tell her. She just assumed she was another muggle born witch." Remus paused; he knew this was a huge piece of information for Harry to digest so quickly.

"So, am I a pureblood then?" Harry asked incredulously. He had been right, Petunia was a squib, and his grandparents were wizards!

"Yes Harry you are, in fact there is no mixed blood in your lineage. You are more of a pureblood that even Mr. Malfoy. They have Veela and Vampire in their blood line. They are still pure, but your heritage has never been crossed with magical creatures, not once." Lupin told him, he knew Harry would enjoy knowing that he was more pure than Draco Malfoy. "Now that brings us to the reason Mrs. Black is so quiet." Lupin said. "When we told her Sirius died, she became adamant that we leave her house. She said only a true heir of the Noble House of Black could inherit the house. So we did some digging, and it turns out that the House of Black actually stems from your lineage, so you are in effect a true heir, able to inherit the house. You see, Sirius left you his estate." Remus finished. "He left you almost everything he had, this house and most of his Gringotts vault. He left me with a little money and he made me your guardian." Remus stopped to let all the information sink in.

"You mean this is my house now? Wait, did you say that you're my new guardian?" Harry asked disbelieving he could be so lucky to escape the Dursleys.

"Yes, but only if you want me to be. I'll understand if you want to stay with how things are now. "Remus said quickly, he didn't want Harry to feel uncomfortable.

"Of course I want you to be. You were one of my parents' best friends. You helped me find Sirius and have been great. Why wouldn't I want that?" Harry told him, he was glad Sirius had left a will. Even though he was still pained by Sirius' death, his leaving a will helped things out a lot.

"Ok, well then as your guardian, I have to ask your permission for the Order of the Phoenix to use your house as its Headquarters. You will not be able to discuss it's location with anyone not involved with the Order. Professor Dumbledore wishes to remain secret keeper." Lupin asked, getting the formalities out of the way. He had a sneaking suspicion that Harry was going to use this info to his advantage. He could see the wheels spinning in Harry's brain.

"I will agree with allowing the Order to use my house on one condition," Harry said, seizing his opportunity. "I wish to join the Order, so that I am aware of what is being conducted on my property." Remus smiled, he knew Harry would come up with this condition. The Order had already discussed it. Since Harry was the only one who could defeat Voldemort, there was really no use of an Order without him.

"I believe that can be arranged." Lupin told him, enjoying the look of disbelief on Harry's face. "We don't want to have to start from scratch, so I'm sure the Order will agree."

"You knew I would come up with that condition and have already cleared it with them!" Harry laughed, "Great minds think alike."

"There are a few other things; for starters, you will need someone to keep the house clean. You are going to need to take on a few house elves." Remus told him, "Kretcher was turned over to the department of Magical Creatures for disposal. He wasn't in very good shape once Dobby got through with him."

"Dobby?" Harry asked.

"Yes, once he found out that you had been tricked by Kretcher and that Kretcher betrayed his master to his master's death. The other house elves turned on Kretcher. Dobby had been taking care of the house with the help of Winky since Kretcher was taken away." Lupin told him. Harry smiled, that was why the house looked so great. "I know Winky loves it here, she has asked to stay on as here. She wants to belong to a family again. Dumbledore has told me that he wants you to have both Winky and Dobby. Dobby is completely devoted to you and Winky is desperate for a new family to serve."

"I would love to have them. I will continue to pay Dobby what his wages were from Hogwarts, but I am sure that Winky would not accept them. "Harry told him. "Is there anything else?"

"Yes, if you order Winky and Dobby, they can remove the portrait of Mrs. Black using their special magic. But they have to be told to do so by the master of the house. I think it would make Sirius happy knowing we got his mother out of the house." Remus told him.

"Yes, I agree, I'll tell them very soon." Harry said shuddering.

"The other thing is that Sirius said I could continue to live here as your guardian, and I have been. I wanted to make sure that is alright." Remus said, smiling at Harry's approval. "And we have finally been able to free Buckbeak. He is back in the Forbidden Forrest under Hagrid's care. It seams the committee for the Disposal for Dangerous Creatures was put under the imperious curse and only woke up when Malfoy was sent to prison, so Buckbeaks sentence was revoked."

"Great!" Harry said happily. "I know there is a lot more to discuss, but my brain is numb from all the information. Can we finish up tomorrow?"

"Sure, go have fun with the Weasleys and Hermoine!" Remus said, surprised when Harry hugged him.

"Thanks for everything." Harry said running downstairs to find Ron and Hermoine.

Harry could hear Ron and Hermoine talking when he neared the kitchen. Hermoine was reminding Ron to give him time to heal over Sirius. They couldn't rush him into being able to tell them everything that happened at the end of last year. Harry was grateful that his friends cared so much for him. "Hey guys," Harry said as he went into the kitchen. "This had been one full day! I have a bunch of stuff to tell you. Let's go upstairs so we're not interrupted. I feel like my head is going to pop off if I have to process any more information today!" Harry laughed.

"Sure Harry, Dobby was hoping to see you before you went to bed. I'm sure it can wait until morning though." Hermoine told him.

"Dobby? Winky?" Harry called to his little house elf friends. He did want to see Dobby and tell him what a great job they had done on cleaning the house.

"Harry Potter Sir!" Dobby squeaked, running toward Harry with Winky following shyly behind him. "Dobby was hoping to see Harry Potter today!"

"It's good to see you too Dobby, and you too Winky," Harry told the elves as he hugged Dobby. "You two have done a magnificent job with the house, it looks spectacular." Harry could see the elves eyes glow happy with the praise.

"We does all we can to make Harry Potter's house clean," Winky told him.

"Yes, I heard that you can get the painting of evil Mrs. Black down if I ask you to?" Harry inquired.

"Mr. Harry Potter sir would have to order us to remove the painting with our magic, we is not able to use it without being ordered to." Winky told him.

"How am I supposed to order you to do it, you are free elves, you don't have a master." Harry said gently, knowing it was a sore subject with Winky.

"We is not wanting to be free anymore, Mr. Harry Potter sir. We is wanting to serve a family again." Dobby piped up. Harry smiled, he would love to have them working for him.

"I am in need of two good house elves to take care of the manor. But I'm afraid I have different rules than other masters." Harry told them, "Would you like to hear the rules?"

"Yes, please Harry Potter sir." They answered.

"First, I like that you are dressed in clothes, I would want you to continue to wear clothes. You would be bound to secrecy with what you hear in the house, but if you ever want to leave or feel you are being mistreated I want you to come talk to me. If I want to free you from my service I will tell you since I may present you with clothes as presents for good deeds. What do you think so far? Could you live with these rules?" Harry asked as their eyes were wide with astonishment.

"You would treat us as free elves, even though we is bound to you? Harry Potter is most kind." Dobby said and Winky nodded.

"The other rules are: no punishing yourselves, there will only be punishments if I order them." Harry said as Dobby looked like he was going to start jumping up and down with joy. "The last thing is that I will be giving you each a small allowance to purchase things from Diagon Alley or the like, so that Dobby will not have to give up on his clothes making, I rather enjoy my socks. So those are most of the rules, but the main rule is, this house is protected by a secret keeper, you must not lead anyone to the house or allow anyone entry that either Professor Dumbledore or myself do not tell the location to. You will be helping us fight against Voldemort. What do you think now?"

"I would be honored to have you as my master Harry Potter sir." Dobby answered, looking to Winky who looked like she was close to crying.

"Dobby always said how great you were Harry Potter sir, but Winky did not believe a wizard could be so good to a house elf. You would make Winky very happy to let her serve you. I will be a good house elf and follow all of Harry Potter's rules." Winky said, tears spilling down her cheeks.

"Thank you, I could not have asked for two better house elves." Harry said giving each one a hug. He could see Hermoine crying in the background, she loved when wizards treated house elves with respect. "Now the first thing I would like done, is for you two to remove the painting of Mrs. Black, but you may wait until morning so we can all watch and dispose of the foul canvas. We will be heading to bed." Harry said.

"Have a good night Mr. Harry Potter and his friends." Winky said bowing low.

"OK, I thought of one more thing," He said looking at their expectant faces, "How about you just call me Harry, and this is Ron and Hermoine. You only need to call me sir or master or Harry Potter when we have guests that are not like family. I consider the Weasley's, Remus Lupin, Hermoine, Tonks and Dumbledore to be family."

"Thank you for allowing us to serve your family. Good night Harry." Dobby said as the trio went up to Harry and Ron's room.

"That was so sweet Harry!" Hermoine said hugging him. "I have never seen Winky so happy!"

"But Harry, why do you need house elves? I mean you don't even have a house!" Ron said, obviously not paying that much attention to the conversation downstairs.

"This is my house now. Sirius left it to me." Harry told him as Ron's eyes got larger with understanding. "They will be working here to keep it in good condition and help out with the Order."

"But I thought only a blood relative of the Black's could own the house. That was what Mrs. Black was screeching for days once she learned Sirius died." Ron said.

"That's true, but she stopped screaming when she found out that her blood line actually stems from mine. I am a pure blood." Harry told them, he could understand their shocked expressions, he was too. "As it turns out, my grandparents on my mom's side were really wizards. They pretended to be muggles because there was supposedly a curse on their children to be non-magical. They were terribly surprised when my mom got her letter. You see, my aunt Petunia is a squib, and she doesn't even know it!"

"How did you find all this out? If it's been secret so long, why did they tell you now?" Hermoine asked shocked.

"I figured it out this afternoon. My aunt screamed because she saw a thestral in the back yard, well only magical beings can see thestrals. She told me she had seen Vernon's mum die, that's why she could see them. Then I asked a bunch of questions about my mom and grandparents and she answered them. I told Mrs. Figg and she went straight to the Order, they were there to pick me up less than an hour later." Harry told them. "Lupin told me the rest just before. Oh, and the Order had to ask my permission to continue using the house, so I told Remus that I would allow it if I could join and they said yes!"

"Not fair! You're going to be in the Order; you have to tell us what is going on!" Ron said. He was happy that they would have at least a little more info, but he doubted they would tell Harry too much.

"I'll try, but you know Dumbledore, he'll probably come up with a way to keep me from telling you. Maybe we can convince your mum and dad to let you two join too, that way we don't have to keep secrets!" Harry told them.

"Yeah right, this is my num we are talking about here; she still thinks we are first years!" Ron laughed shaking his head, there was no way mum would let him join, she wouldn't even let Fred and George join and they were of age!

"How come you get to join, wouldn't the Dursleys have to give their permission?" Hermoine asked skeptically.

"That's the best part, in Sirius' will, he named Remus my legal guardian! I'm practically free from the Dursleys!" Harry said giddy with happiness.

"I'm happy for you Harry; maybe you can try and have a normal relationship with your guardian now." Hermoine added looking down; she didn't want to depress Harry.

"I'm still hurt over loosing Sirius, he was my godfather and who my parents had picked to be my guardian, but I'm sure they had a hard time choosing between Remus and Sirius in the first place. At least I'm still with a Marauder!" Harry told them.

"I'm tired," Hermoine said through a yawn, "I'll talk to you boys in the morning."

"Night 'Moine," Ron said with Harry calling "Night!" after her as she headed to her room. "Night Ron," Harry said pulling on his pajamas and crawling into bed, his bed in his house! He could hardly believe it, he finally had a home.

Chapter 5: The Vault

"Harry wake up, come on everyone wants to see the painting of that horrible woman get ripped off the wall." George said jumping on Harry's bed, laughing as Harry groaned and tried pushing him away.

"Gerroff Fred!" Ron yelled at his brother who was smothering him with a pillow.

"Come on, Mad-Eye thinks there is a secret room or something past the painting since he can't see through the wall!" Fred told them.

"A secret room? Wonder what kind of dark arts stuff is in there?" Harry questioned while getting dressed. "I can't wait to get rid of that evil hag's portrait. I feel like it is the one thing I can do for Sirius is to make sure that painting is out of this house!" They all made their way downstairs, where the rest of the house was waiting as well as Tonks, Mad-Eye, Kingsley, McGonagall and even Dumbledore.

"Good morning Harry," Dumbledore said, his eyes were twinkling more than Harry had ever seen them. "I see you have taken our two faithful house elves into your service."

"Yes Professor, they have agreed to help me keep this house in good condition as well as to remove this ugly painting from the wall." Harry told the old man with the long beard. "So, shall we see what's behind her?" Harry asked the eager crowd.

"You'll never get me out of this house you disgrace to the name of wizard! How dare you defile my house with these blood traitors and mud-bloods!" Mrs. Black screeched.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this is my house now and I demand to be treated with respect in my own home!" Harry said forcefully. Mrs. Black shut up immediately. "Now, if you would be so kind as to get yourself unstuck from the wall that will save me the trouble of burdening my house elf friends here from doing it." He told her, and to everyone's surprise (except Dumbledore's, his eyes were twinkling for a reason) they heard a sound and her painting slid down off the wall and to the floor.

"Good, now you will remain silent unless spoken to and you will treat guests in this home with respect or I will have this portrait disposed of." Harry told Mrs. Black as Dobby and Winky moved the painting aside. He couldn't believe the old bat had listened to him.

Where the painting had hung was a door. It was a thick wooden door, but it looked like even Hagrid wouldn't be able to break it down. "Can you see anything through it Alastor?" Professor McGonagall asked him, wary of opening a door in a house that was once owned by a family full of dark wizards.

"No, there is either five feet of solid rock or a highly powerful spell, I cannot see through it like I can the other walls." He told them.

"Can you open the door Dobby?" Harry asked as the room collectively backed away from the door. "Be careful, you know the type of wizards the Blacks were."

"Yes sir, Dobby will try." He said as he attempted to gain entry to the room, even with the help of Winky they could not open the door.

"Stand aside," Harry said as he walked up to the door. "I Harry James Potter, master of this house, demand that this door be opened to me." He said in that same powerful voice he had spoken to Mrs. Black with and the door swung open.

"Very nicely done Harry," Dumbledore told him as the others stood gaping at Harry. "Shall we see what lies beyond?" Harry followed Dumbledore into the room and gasped. It was a vault! There were piles of galleons, gold, silver and gemstones. There were cabinets lining the walls full of priceless artifacts. "Ahhh, I see we have found the hidden Black treasure. You see it has been missing for years. Mrs. Black emptied her vaults at Gringotts right after Sirius ran away from home in order to protect her fortune from him. Seems she succeeded, but never the less, this all belongs to you now Harry." Harry was too shocked to respond, he just looked Dumbledore in the eyes, and he knew his Professor could read all that he needed in his eyes. "I'll be back after dinner; we can discuss the order and the other things on your mind then Harry." He said placing his hand on Harry's shoulder for a moment before leaving the room.

"Oi! Look at all that gold!" Fred said walking into the room, "No wonder the old bat was keeping this door hidden!" He laughed running his hand over the gold bricks. They heard a soft thump behind them and turned around to see Mrs. Weasley passed out on the floor. "I guess it's a little too much for mum to take!"

"Holy cricket, what are you going to do with all this money Harry?" Hermoine asked in awe. She and Ginny were lovingly stroking all the gems.

"I don't know." Harry said honestly. "Let's go eat breakfast and we can figure out what else is in here afterwards." He said stepping out of the vault. "Dobby, can you set this door up to only open for Remus, you, Winky and me?" Harry asked him.

"Yes sir, now that the door is open, we can control it with our elf magic." Dobby said and got to work on putting the charm on the door. Harry led everyone else into the kitchen where Winky was setting out plates full of breakfast food.

"Looks like you get a break today mum," Ginny said cheerfully grabbing a waffle. Ron was already stuffing his face.

"This looks wonderful Winky, thank you." Harry said as he started to eat.

"It is my pleasure Harry sir." She added turning pink and bringing out more food.

Kingsley, Mad-Eye and McGonagall left right after breakfast, saying they would be back after supper for Order business. The rest of the 'family' headed back to the vault to explore the cabinets and see exactly what other surprises awaited them. Tonks looked longingly at the vault and said to Harry, "I'll just see you after dinner; I don't want to intrude on family business."

"Technically, you are family. If I'm related to the Blacks then I'm related to you. Besides, you are always welcome here." Harry told her as they walked into the safe. Winky pulled on Tonks robes.

"You is all his family Miss, he told us to treat you like that, you and Mr. Lupin and all the Weezeys even Professor Dumbledore! He will not mind if you want to stay, I can tell." Winky told her, "I heard you taking with Mr. Fred that you is looking for a new place to stay. I is sure master Harry will let you stay."

"You are very sweet Winky, thank you." Tonks said smiling. She had been living at her parent's house while she looked for a new apartment, but she would love to be at headquarters.

"Then it's settled. You can move in whenever you like." Harry winked at her from behind. "It'll give Remus someone to talk to when I go back to school!"

"Thanks Harry!" Tonks said, she couldn't believe how easily Harry had accepted her into his 'family,'

"Hey Ron! Check these out!" Harry said as he opened an armoire. There were at least a dozen invisibility cloaks inside. These would be great to have for the order, but Ron, Hermoine and Ginny got one first.

"Invisibility cloaks! Way cool, now we won't have to all try and fit under yours." Ron said, and then whispered, "It'll make sneaking out a whole lot easier!" They both laughed and moved over to show Hermoine their find.

"Oh, wow, look at these gorgeous gowns. Ginny, Tonks come here and look!" Hermoine said, spying the beautiful gowns and robes that filled the rest of the armoire. The girls kept pulling gowns out and holding them up to themselves and spinning around, soon even Mrs. Weasley joined in.

"Better not let them look in here then," George told Harry pointing to a beautifully engraved cherry wood box. Inside were magnificent jewelry pieces, all colors and shapes, necklaces, rings, earrings.

"Yeah, let's keep this a secret. That way it's an even bigger surprise later when they get to wear it." Harry told the guys as he locked the box and put the key in his pocket.

They found two orbs with exact replicas of the solar system in them, just like the one Harry had been drooling over in Diagon Alley before his third year. He would never have to do a star chart again! There was a trunk like Mad-Eye's that was full of Dark detectors.

"This had to have belonged to an auror!" Tonks exclaimed, "What is it doing in this house?" Upon closer inspection it had a monogram on the front of the trunk: H. Potter. "It has your name on it Harry! How is that possible?" She asked perplexed.

"Harry's grandfather was an auror; he was killed by Death eaters before Harry was born. His name was Harold Potter. You were named after him Harry." Lupin told everyone. "Now you have a bigger trunk to take your stuff in back to school!" Lupin laughed, trying to lighten the mood.

"I guess it just shows that you were meant to open this room and to have this house." Mr. Weasley said. "And all this equipment will be very helpful to the Order as well as the invisibility cloaks."

"The order can use all but three of the cloaks and all the dark detectors, except I think I'll hang the foe glass over my bed, just in case." Harry told him as he opened another cabinet to find it full of china and crystal and silver. There were tea sets and place settings, enough for a grand party.

"Harry, come look at these." Remus told him, he was looking in large stand up chest. It was full of portraits and beautiful tapestries. There were a few that caught both Harry's and Remus' eye. One was of the four Hogwarts founders. They pulled it our carefully, for it was over a century old.

"Good day fine gentlemen. At last we have been freed from our wooden cage," said the portrait of Godric Gryffindor. Harry smiled; Gryffindor was the brave once, that's why he spoke first.

"It is an honor to be the one to remove your painting from its bonds." Lupin said with respect to the four greatest witches and wizards of their age.

"I see that you young sir are of the age to attend Hogwarts, we would be pleased to hear of its condition." Helga Hufflepuff asked Harry.

"Hogwarts is as magnificent as ever Madame. I shall return there for my 6th year in a few months." Harry told her, he didn't want to offend her by saying he was a Gryffindor. He heard the painted Salazar Slytherin snort in the background. "Ah, and I must say, you should have done a better job of hiding your Chamber of Secrets, Slytherin." Harry said drawing out the name to show he did not respect the wizard. "I had no problems killing your basilisk." Harry tried not to smirk at the glare he got from Slytherin.

"Spoken like a true Gryffindor." Rowena Ravenclaw said proudly. "No other would risk their life to save the school and the lives of the muggle born witches and wizards."

"Thank you mam, I am humbled to receive such a compliment from the cleverest witch of the age." Harry said bowing slightly.

"Definitely a Gryffindor, he is both brave and charming!" Godric Gryffindor spoke as Harry and Remus gently laid the portrait off to the side. The next portrait was of Godric Gryffindor as well. It was magnificent. Gryffindor was painted in the foreground and a beautiful phoenix was painted in the background. The unique thing about the painting was that only one of them would move at a time.

"Fawks" Harry breathed quietly, recognizing the beautiful bird. The phoenix in the painting tilted its head in recognition. As Harry watched the painting, he began to realize why only one or the other would move at a time. They were the same being. Godric Gryffindor was an anaimagi, he was Fawks. Lupin had gone to get the others to show them the paintings. "You are Fawks." Harry whispered to Godric, who nodded solemnly. "Shall I keep this a secret?" Harry asked quietly as the others headed towards him.

"Only my heir and the Headmaster may know." Godric said before Fawks came to life again. Harry was stunned into silence. The phoenix that had helped him out so many times was actually Godric Gryffindor himself!

"Harry, these portraits are the largest historical find in a very long time!" Hermoine said. "I can't even image what they are worth, they must be priceless."

"I just called Bill over; I wanted Harry to have an inventory of the gold and all the possessions." Mrs. Weasley said, "He will be able to help determine the value of all this."

"Harry, are you OK? You seem kind of pale?" Remus asked him.

"Yes, I'm just in shock at all we have found," He told them, fingering the corner of a tapestry of King Arthur, Merlin and the Knights of the Round Table. The tapestry was rich in color and the knights waved at them. "I think I would like to hang this one over the entrance to the vault, to replace Mrs. Black. She can go in the attic."

"That sounds lovely dear." Mrs. Weasley said, "Oh, here's Bill now, I'll just show him in."

Bill said it would take the entire afternoon to catalog and count, even with the help of Dobby and Winky. Harry gave him the key to the jewelry box and told him to keep it secret from the girls. They all left to let Bill get to work.

Fred and George went to work at the shop saying they had to pollute the young minds of their customers. Tonks and Lupin said they had some errands to run for the Order and would see them for dinner. Harry reminded Tonks she could move in whatever she wanted. Ginny, Hermoine, Harry and Ron then played exploding snap in the living room while Mr. and Mrs. Weasley went upstairs to take a nap.

"I can't wait until Professor Dumbledore gets here tonight," Harry told his friends. "I want to give him the portrait of the four founders for Hogwarts to have. It's only right that it be displayed in the school they founded."

"That is great Harry, I'm sure he will cherish the painting. What are you going to do with the one of Godric Gryffindor?" Hermoine asked him.

"I'm not sure, but I want to keep it. I feel connected to it somehow, I can't explain it. I think I will find a place for it here in the house, a special place." Harry told them.

"It's a shame it's just a moving portrait, it would be so neat if he could speak!" Ron said as Harry looked at him weird, "He could have given us advice on how to defeat Voldemort!"

"Why do you think it can't speak?" Harry asked curious.

"That type of painting can't, you can tell by the way there were two subjects. The artist just made them mobile. Shame though." Ron said.

"Ginny, what have you been up to this summer?" Harry asked changing the subject. "Are you still going out with Dean?"

Ginny giggled and looked at Ron's angry face. Ron hated the idea of his little sister dating anybody. "No, we never were going out; I just said that to get a reaction out of Ron!" Ginny laughed, even Hermoine was trying to hold back a smile at Ron's reaction.

"You what!!?" Ron yelled, "I was going to have to kill him when we got back to Hogwarts, it's a good thing you told me the truth before I broke his neck!"

"You know Ron, if you are going to overreact every time I like a boy; we are going to have some serious problems." Ginny told him matter-of-factly. "I happen to like boys, so you're going to have to get used to the fact that I'll have boyfriends."

"I know you'll have boyfriends, just make sure you pick somebody who deserves you next time." Ron told her, "Right Harry?"

"I'm staying out of this one, far out of it!" Harry laughed getting up and moving over next to Hermoine.

"Dean is a Gryffindor and one of your friends, how is he not good enough for me?" Ginny asked shocked.

"He is a total flirt! You need someone who will treat you right, who will protect you when this war breaks out, someone who is caring, strong, brave, smart and funny. Someone who is going to treat you with respect, not parade you around like some trophy." Ron told her seriously.

"That is a really sweet idea Ron, but there are not very many guys out there like that, and the ones that are," she said glancing at Harry, "would never want to go out with me." She told her brother with her head down. Ron gave Harry and Hermoine a pleading 'please help me with this look.'

"Ron's right Gin, you deserve the best. Don't settle for someone, you'll find a guy that will be perfect for you, just give it time." Hermoine told her.

"Like I said, a perfect guy would never pay any attention to me." Ginny said looking right at Harry, almost challenging him to disagree. But being the brave Gryffindor he was he took the challenge.

"That's not true Ginny. You are an amazing girl. You are strong willed, brave, very smart, even Snape can't mark down your potions, you have a great sense of humor and adventure and you are loyal to your friends and family. All of that and you are very pretty; any guy would have to be stupid to not want to be with you." Harry told her smiling. Ginny was shocked; did Harry Potter just say all those amazing things about her? Did he really believe that about her?

"Yes Harry, any guy would be stupid to pass up Ginny once he realized she has all those amazing traits." Hermoine said smirking at how thick headed boys really were.

"See Gin, even Hermoine agrees." Harry added, heading into the kitchen for a snack. Hermoine just sat shaking her head as Ginny glowed; she never thought Harry could possibly think those things about her after what happened in the Chamber of Secrets. Too bad he only meant that she would find some **other** guy who would be all the things Ron said. Too bad the only person she had ever met to fill all those traits was Harry. Ginny went up to her room to write in her diary (just parchment this time, not dark wizards hiding inside using her); she didn't want to forget all the great stuff Harry had said about her.

As Ron sank down into the couch, he turned to Hermoine. "I think we cheered Gin up. I don't think she's going to go running after the first boy who flirts with her this year." He said proudly.

"Yeah, maybe just the first one to compliment her and tell her she's amazing." Hermoine mumbled, but Ron caught it anyway.

"Wait! Did Harry just tell my little sister she was amazing and then list off almost a hundred things about her?" Ron asked, "And he even said she was pretty!" He said with his jaw hanging open.

"Don't worry Ron; I don't think Harry realized he told her that any guy would be stupid not to want to be with her." Hermoine laughed at the look on Ron's face, it was a mix between realization, shock, anger and happiness. "You boys are too thick to realize you like someone and are even thicker when it comes to catching the hints that a girl likes you."

"That's not true, I would know it if I had feelings for a girl. And I know for a fact that there are no girls at Hogwarts interested in me!" Ron protested. Hermoine just smiled.

"Sure you wouldn't Ron. You wouldn't realize you liked the girl until she showed interest in someone else and you wouldn't know a girl liked you until she either told you flat out or showed you. I know for a fact that there is a girl that likes you that will be going back to Hogwarts soon as well." She told him, enjoying the shocked look on his face. "Maybe you should take some lessons from Dean, he may be a flirt be at least he can pick up on the fact that someone likes him." Hermoine teased.

Chapter 6: New Members

Tonks and Lupin returned shortly before dinner. Remus looked upset about something; Harry made a mental note to ask him about it later. They all sat down to a meal Mrs. Weasley had made. She had absolutely refused to let Winky do all the cooking after helping Bill all afternoon. Bill had enjoyed inventorying Harry's vault. He told him the goblins at Gringotts never let him do that kind of job alone because they are all so suspicious of wizards.

"I really appreciate your help Bill; it's nice to know what's in there." Harry told him. He loved how the Weasley's were always willing to help out. "I can't believe how much all of that is worth!"

"Yeah, I don't think even your great-grandchildren will have to work Harry, and that's if you have a Weasley size family!" Bill told him. "And you still have your vault at Gringotts along with Sirius'. Harry shook his head; he had never imagined so much money.

"Ok, that settles it." Harry said standing up as dinner ended and holding up his glass. "I would like to propose a toast." He told them as they all picked up their glasses. "You all have been the only family I have ever known, I love each one of you as if we were actually related. I just wanted to thank you for being there for me. To show my thanks, I would like to split my Gringotts vault between each of you." He said smiling at the shocked look on their faces.

"That's your money Harry dear; we wouldn't feel right taking it." Mrs. Weasley said blushing. Harry wasn't going to take no for an answer, he knew how much it would mean to the Weasley family.

"Let me do this for you Mrs. Weasley, you have been so good to me, treating me like one of your family." Harry told her.

"You are one of our family now Harry, and Hermione too." Mrs. Weasley said getting up to hug Harry, "But I won't take your money."

"Yeah, you already gave us your tri-wizard winnings to start our shop, we don't need anything else." The twins added.

"We appreciate your generosity Harry, but we love you and don't want to take your money." Mr. Weasley told him.

"Ok, but you all better give me a long list of things you want for Christmas!" Harry told them laughing. "And don't hesitate to ask if you need anything."

Lupin got up and walked over to Harry, Tonks followed. "There's something I want to talk to you about before the Order meeting Harry." He said leading him upstairs into the drawing room. "Tonks and I found a way to extend the protection your aunt provides."

"It would mean you would never need to go back to the Dursleys and you could move around freely without fearing for your safety." Tonks added smiling. Harry couldn't believe it, it sounded too good to be true.

"There's a catch though Harry," Lupin told him. "The only way is to transfer your mother's protection to another living person. You would be safe whenever you were near that person or in their house."

"But to get the full effect of the protection, so that you could go outside and still be protected, you would have to be adopted by the person." Tonks said. Lupin was grateful that she was here to ease the blow.

"I could be free from the Dursleys forever?" Harry asked still unsure. Lupin nodded his head in response. "It sounds great, but I don't want the Weasley's to do it. I love them and all, but..." Harry said looking at Remus.

"I just remembered that I have paperwork to do before the meeting!" Tonks said jumping up and leaving the two to talk.

"Remus, Iâ Do?" Harry said looking down. How did you ask someone to adopt you without sounding like a fool?

"Harry, I wasn't thinking about the Weasleys. I thought you would want someone separate, so you could have your own family." Remus said stalling. He loved Harry like his son; he knew Lily and James would want him to take care of him. But he was afraid Harry wouldn't want a werewolf in his family.

"You see the reason I was so excited when I found out that Sirius was my godfather was because I've needed someone to look up to. I need someone to fill in and be the father figure I've always needed." Harry said looking pleadingly at Remus.

"Harry, I know we haven't been as close as we could have been. But I would love to have you in my family. I don't want to pressure you, but I already think of you as family." Remus told him, hoping it wouldn't ruin their relationship if Harry said no.

"Are you serious?" Harry said jumping up, "I wanted to ask you!" He laughed at how silly they were both acting. They had been trying to ask each other the same thing. He surprised Remus by catching him in a hug.

"Are you sure? You can't change your mind once we transfer the protection." Remus told him, happy that Harry seemed to want it as much as he did.

"Of course I'm sure. I know my parents would be happy that we are going to take care of each other." Harry said as Remus put his arm around him and steered him toward the door.

"We better go tell Tonks before she knocks something over trying to listen in on our conversation." Lupin laughed, just then they heard a thud and an "ow" from the hallway. "That's what you get for being nosey." He told her as he helped her up.

"Oh, this is great! I'm so happy for you two. We should go tell Albus, I think he just arrived!" Tonks said grinning like a Cheshire cat. They all went to the kitchen to find Mrs. Weasley and Dumbledore in an intense conversation.

"They are too young Albus, all of them, even Harry!" She told him.

"Molly, you know we are going to have a hard time keeping things from them with Harry in the Order. We'd be better off letting them join than risking their conversations being overheard when Harry tells them everything he hears." He told her calmly, his eyes sparkling.

"But what if something happens to them? How am I supposed to sleep at night knowing my entire family is in the Order?" She asked him, they had found out last year that her greatest fear was loosing her family.

"We will not be sending the young ones out on missions, merely telling them of our plans and asking for their opinions. Besides, they will be invaluable to our cause by bringing other students to us." He told her.

"I can't believe that Hermione's parents agreed with this!" Molly said shaking her head. She knew she had lost the battle. "You knowâ Iâ Fine, but they had better be kept safe!"

"Now that's settled," the Headmaster said standing, winking at Harry. "We have an Order meeting to get to. Would you like to call your family down Molly?" Harry couldn't believe that Dumbledore had talked Molly Weasley into letting her youngest children join the Order. That man could do anything he set his mind to! "Remus, Harry, I need to speak with you after the meeting." Remus nodded in response, Harry just smiled.

"Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley yelled upstairs. "Come down stairs please." They all climbed down the stairs. Harry winked at Ginny, he knew she had been listening on an extendable ear, he had seen it when he walked into the room.

"What is it mum?" Ron asked, "I was just about to beat Hermione at wizards' chess again." Ron was the best chess player out of all of them. Harry had never beaten Ron, and he didn't think Hermione had either.

"Well the meeting is about to start so I thought you had better get down here." She told them smiling. She knew here children would be excited they got to join. "I thought you'd all like to see Harry get initiated as a member." She said winking at Harry.

Harry finally realized where Fred and George got their prank-full nature from. Mrs. Weasley wasn't going to tell her children until the meeting started; now that was a good one! "Everyone into the Kitchen," Mr. Weasley said as the other members started apparating, flooing, or coming in the door. Harry thought it was remarkable how punctual they all were as he headed to the kitchen for the start of the meeting.

"Thank you all for coming. As you can see, we have quite a few additional faces here tonight. The first order of business is the change in ownership of this wonderful house we use as our headquarters. Sirius Black was the godfather of Harry Potter and has left him the estate. Harry has agreed to allow us to use the house for the Order. As the owner of our base of operations it is only fitting that he be admitted into the Order." Dumbledore spoke as many people turned surprised heads towards Harry. "Harry and his friends will play a pivotal role in the upcoming war and we must prepare them the best we can. Therefore we shall be assigning them the task of recruiting other students to our cause." He said smiling at Dumbledore. "So let us initiate our new members."

Harry smiled at the look of comprehension on his friends faces. Hermione looked like she was about to pop she was so excited, Ron's mouth hung open in shock and Ginny winked back at Harry, confirming his suspicion she had extendable ears. Fred and George gave each other high fives. They all took an oath to protect the muggle and magical community from evil forces to the best of their ability. To search out, capture and hinder all death eaters and followers of Voldemort. To maintain secrecy for all maters discussed within the Order. When they were official members they all shook hands with the other members.

As Harry shook Snape's hand he whispered, "This doesn't mean you're special Potter." Harry smiled as he imagined tossing Snape out of his house on his ear. "Just because you and your little friends are in the Order, don't expect me to treat you any differently when classes start."

"Of course Sir, but as you expect me to treat you with respect while I'm at school, I expect you to treat me with respect while you are in my home." Harry said still smiling, he loved getting under Snape's skin, and he wasn't at school so he couldn't take house points or get a detention.

Snape narrowed his eyes as he let go of his hand and stiffened up. It seemed the entire room was watching them shake hands. "Welcome to the Order, Harry." He said fighting to get out Harry's name.

"It will be a privilege serving with you Severus." Harry said with a huge smile on his face as he waked away from the fuming Professor Snape. Harry didn't have to call him sir or professor when they were not in school and Snape knew it.

"Let's get back to business shall we." Dumbledore said with a slight smile on his face and the twinkle in his eye. Ron tried to hold in his laughter at the exchange between Harry and Snape. The meeting went on for another hour before it adjourned. "Harry, Remus a few moments if you please."

They all sat at the table once everyone else had left the room, some could still be heard milling about the living room commenting on the cleanliness and the removal of Mrs. Black's portrait. "We will want to transfer your mother's protection from your aunt to Remus as soon as possible Harry. I believe Tonks is already working on drawing up the necessary paperwork for the adoption." Dumbledore told him, clearly this man knew everything. "The real reason I wanted to speak with the two of you is about your emerging powers Harry."

"Emerging powers?" Harry questioned, he didn't understand what Dumbledore was talking about.

"You have power in your voice Harry. When you tap into your power you can make things happen. You used it yesterday to command Mrs. Black off the wall and to open the vault door." Dumbledore told him smiling. "It is a very rare gift."

"I still don't understand Professor." Harry said, he had felt something when he opened the door and had been shocked when Mrs. Black's portrait listened to him.

"Your voice has the power of authority. When you speak, objects and spells listen to you. It works on people as well. You cannot control their actions or thoughts, but when you tell them something they listen. You have the authority in your voice to make them think about an idea they had never considered or to answer a question they would not normally. If I'm correct you first used this power on your aunt the morning when she saw the thestral. You asked her who she had seen die, a very personal question that she would not have normally answered." He told him.

"So that's why she was so forthcoming with answers?" Harry asked, somewhat scared of his powers. "But effecting peoples free will, that sounds like a bad thing."

"You cannot effect their choices Harry," Lupin broke in, "It's more like you make them feel the need to respect you, like when a teacher asks a question or asks something of you in class you answer since the teacher is in a position of authority." Remus said trying to put it in terms Harry would understand.

"I couldn't have put it better myself." Dumbledore said, "But we need to be careful of who knows about your power Harry. We do not want Voldemort or his supporters to hear of this power. Keeping it secret will help you fight him."

"Yes sir, now that I am aware of it, I will learn to control it." Harry told him, he wanted to control his powers; he didn't want his friends to feel uncomfortable around him.

"You should tell your friends about the prophesy." Dumbledore told him, "The Order is aware of it and it may be mentioned during meetings, I know they would appreciate hearing it from you first."

"I knew I needed to tell them, I just didn't want to scare them." Harry said, "But I will tell them tomorrow, I think we are celebration joining the Order this evening!"

"We will go to your aunt's house tomorrow morning to transfer the protection. It will be draining on your powers so try and sleep tonight." Remus said as they all stood up.

"Oh, Professor, I almost forgot. I have a gift for you." Harry said excitedly, "I found this in the vault and want you to take it to Hogwarts." He opened the vault and pulled out the portrait.

Dumbledore's eyes widened as he looked at the four founders. They all waved before going back to 'sleep.' "Well, they will definitely fit in well in your office, they can already fake sleep just like all the previous Headmaster's portraits!" Harry laughed as Salazar Slytherin opened his eyes to glare at him. "Don't mind Slytherin, he's just upset that I killed his basilisk."

Both Dumbledore and Godric Gryffindor laughed at that. "Thank you Harry, this is a priceless treasure. It will hang in Hogwarts where it belongs." It had been a long time since one of his students had surprised him, but Harry Potter was definitely not one of his average students.

"I'm sure Fawks will agree that it belongs in your office." Harry said pointedly. Dumbledore's eyes sparkled more than normal as he realized Harry knew who Fawks was.

"Yes, I'm sure Fawks will appreciate the painting." He said as he prepared to floo to his office. "Don't forget what Professor Snape taught you about oclemency, you will have to continue your lessons this year." He told Harry as he disappeared in green flames.

"And I thought this was going to be a good school year." Harry groaned to Remus. "Do you think we can get me a pensive?" He asked his guardian.

"I think Bill came across one in the vault," Remus told him. "Why, is there something you don't want Snape to see?"

"There are plenty of things I don't want him to see. I know he is on our side and Dumbledore trusts him, but he's still an awful git in my book." Harry told him as they headed upstairs. "I'm going to go party with Ron and Hermione."

"I'll see you in the morning; just remember to sleep so you are strong enough when we go to your aunt's." He said giving Harry a fatherly hug before heading off to his room.

"Harry!" George said slapping him on the back, "How did you do it? How did you get mum to let us join?"

"It was actually Professor Dumbledore; he can talk anyone into anything." Harry told them, "He knew I was just going to tell you everything so he thought it would be safer to just let you all join too."

"I love that man!" Fred said raising his bottle of butterbeer and shoving one into Harry's hand, "To Dumbledore!" He said in a toast.

"To Dumbledore!" They all chorused.

"So did you hear any other good gossip?" Harry asked Ginny sitting next to her on his bed.

"Yeah," She said lowering her voice "is it true that Lupin is going to adopt a son?" She didn't want to speak to loud in case she had heard wrong. "I wonder why and who it is." Harry winked at her and stood up.

"I have an announcement," he said getting their attention. "Remus found a way to extend my mother's protection to him. He is going to adopt me as his son and I will be protected wherever I go, not just when I am with him." They spent the rest of the night discussing all the changes going on in Harry's life and what they expected the Order would have them do.

Chapter 7: A New Family

Remus came in to wake Harry and Ron the next morning. Harry had listened the night before and went to bed at a decent time. He pulled on one of Dudley's old t-shirts and a pair of jeans 3 sizes to big that had to be held up with a belt. Remus didn't look much better in a ratty pair of tan corduroys and an oversized polo shirt, the best muggle clothes he owned.

"When do we leave? Do I have time to tell the others about the prophesy?" Harry asked as they headed for breakfast. Winky had insisted on cooking breakfasts so Mrs. Weasley did not need to be up so early.

"Yes, we don't want to get to your Aunt's until your Uncle is gone." Remus told him. "Why don't you tell them right after breakfast? I can be there for support if you like." They entered the kitchen; the others were half way through their meal. When they were done Harry cleared his throat.

"There's something else you all should know. It's something Dumbledore told me at the end of last year." Harry said, he suddenly had everyone's undivided attention. "The reason Voldemort was at the Department of Mysteries was to obtain the prophesy, the one that smashed. Dumbledore told me what was in the prophesy, he was the one the prophesy was made to, before I was born." Harry went on to tell them everything Dumbledore had told him at the end of last year. When he finished, Hermoine and Ginny were crying and Ron looked like he had been hit with a bludger.

"That's why we got to join the Order. I need to learn everything I can to be able to defeat Voldemort." Harry said to his friends, who were taking the news as badly as he thought they would. "I just wanted to be the one to tell you, I didn't want it to come up at an order meeting."

"We will help you Harry," Hermoine said trying to stop her tears from falling.

"You can count on us to do whatever it takes to get you trained, just like with the Tri-wizard tournament." Ron told him. Ginny just jumped up and hugged him tightly, not having the ability to talk through her tears.

"Harry, it's time to go." Remus said gently.

"It's ok Gin," Harry told the redhead who was trembling in his arms. "We'll get through this," he whispered reassuringly in her ear before pulling out of the embrace. Both Ron and Hermoine hugged him before he was ushered out of the house by Remus.

"He never gets a break does he?" Ron asked out loud. "Every time we think things are starting to go our way, something happens to bring us back to reality."

"At least we have an idea of why Voldemort killed his parents and why he keeps trying to kill him." Hermoine added, "It's just so intense, kill or be killed." Ginny broke down in sobs and ran up to her room.

"Why is she so upset? We're his best friends; we should be the ones that are upset!" Ron questioned, shrugging his shoulders. Hermoine just shook her head at how dense boys were.

Harry and Remus arrived back on Privet Drive. "I thought it would be longer until I had to come back here." He joked, "But this is the first time I've ever volunteered to come here."

"Let's hope it's the last time you have to." Remus said putting his arm around Harry's shoulder in a fatherly way. Harry had never felt so secure with the prospect of seeing his relatives. Remus rang the doorbell.

"What are you doing here?" Petunia asked both angry and scared. "I thought we were through with you until next year."

"That's what we are here to discuss Mrs. Dursley," Lupin said, "If we may come in, I'm sue you would not want the neighbors to overhear our conversation." Those were the 'magic' words to get her to usher them into the living room. "We have determined a method to transfer the protection that Lily gave to Harry so that you would not have to be his guardian anymore."

"Good, now get out of my house." She said, thinking the conversation was over.

"It's not that simple Aunt Petunia, the only way is to transfer the protection to another person with a complicated spell." Harry told her, "If you don't let us do the spell, you'll still be stuck taking care of me. I'll probably even have to stay the rest of the summer."

"This is the only way?" She asked, if Vernon knew she let them do magic in their house he would leave her for sure.

"Yes it is," said a voice from behind them, startling Harry as well as making Petunia give out a little scream. Harry turned around to see Professor Dumbledore standing in the living room. "Shall we get started, this may take a while." Petunia just nodded, too scared of the man with the long beard that just appeared out of nowhere. "Harry you will need to sit in the middle of the couch, Petunia you and Remus need to sit on either side of him." Dumbledore stood in front of the three of them with his wand drawn.

An hour later the process was complete and Harry was taking his last look at Privet Drive. "So how does it feel to be free?" Remus asked him, Dumbledore had already taken his leave of the two.

"It's an amazing feeling. I feel lighter, like a weight was just lifted off my shoulders. I've never told anyone this, but when I was little I always wished that I had died in the car crash with my parents, I was so alone all my life. But then I met Hagrid and went to Hogwarts. I have true friends and now I'm going to have the family I always longed for." Harry didn't feel stupid sharing his feelings with Remus, it felt natural.

"Is there anywhere in muggle London you want to go before we head back to the Leaky Caldron?" Remus asked, "We might as well stop while we are here?"

"Yes, now that I'm free of the Dursleys I want to be free of Dudley's hand me down clothes." Harry said, "We are going shopping!"

They spent the rest of the morning going from shop to shop. Harry bought jeans and pants, trainers and dress shoes and a wide assortment of shirts. He had ditched his old clothes at the first shop and was now dressed in a pair of dark denim jeans and a perfect fitting green polo that showed off his muscles and accented his eyes. Remus had gotten himself a few new muggle outfits as well at Harry's bidding.

"You knew we were going to go shopping here huh?" Harry asked as Remus pulled a wad of muggle money out to pay for their purchases.

"I was going to make you go, I figured if you have more money than you could spend in three lifetimes, you shouldn't be dressed like a beggar." Remus laughed, they had a great time in muggle London. Harry was impressed with Remus' knowledge of muggles. "Your mother was always teaching me about the muggle way of life, I was the only one who would listen. I found it fascinating." He told him.

"There's one more stop I want to make," Harry told him, leading Remus into an eye care office. "Hello, I would like to have my eyes checked." He told the lady behind the counter. It was one of those places you could walk into and walk out with glasses in under an hour. Harry hadn't seen an eye doctor in over 10 years; he figured it would be smart to get his eyes checked. He needed new glasses and wanted to try contacts as well.

He picked out a pair of glasses the same shape as his old ones, except these were slimmer and didn't hide his eyes as much. He got a few boxes of disposable contacts as well; the lady was surprised his 'father' was going to let him get both. Remus thought that was very funny, they looked nothing alike.

"What do you think of the new me?" Harry asked doing a 360 for Remus. His clothes fit, they looked nice and the glasses made him look older.

"You just need a new pair of boots and you'll be perfect. I know just the place in Diagon Alley." Remus said as they entered the bar saying hello to Tom the innkeeper before venturing out to the shops. "We'll have to come back again when you get your school list, but I think we can afford to splurge a little."

Harry laughed; 'a little' was the understatement of the year. He could buy everything he ever wanted and still have money to burn. They went to the shoe store that Remus had been talking about and got Harry a pair of black dragon hide boots as well as another pairs of shoes, black again of course to match his school robes. They went to Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions and they each bought new robes. Harry got a set of midnight blue and a set of burgundy with the Potter family crest embroidered on them. He also purchased a lot of wizard clothes and made sure Remus restocked his wardrobe as well. If they hadn't been wizards they wouldn't have been able to carry everything, but thanks to Remus' shrinking charm they only had one pocketful each before they were done.

"We better be getting back before the others get too worried. I don't want Mrs. Weasley to send the Order out looking for us." Harry laughed as they headed back home.

"I'll take your stuff up to your room and enlarge it," Remus told him.

"Thanks for everything today," Harry told him, "For taking me away from my horrible relative and for the fun day of shopping. I actually felt like a real kid for once."

"It was my pleasure Harry, and we'll be able to go out a lot more once we get the adoption finalized." Remus told him leaving him to find his friends and show off his new look.

He went up to the drawing room; it was his favorite room of the house, to see if anyone was in there. Ginny sat with her head buried in a journal, writing up a storm. She didn't see him as he approached. "Hey Gin." He said quietly. She looked up smiling at his voice. Her eyes became bright as she took in his new look.

"You look wonderful Harry!" She gushed blushing. "I really like the new glasses; your eyes look so much greener."

"That might just be the shirt." Harry smiled, he knew he looked better, but Ginny couldn't take her eyes off of him. "It's a lot different having clothes that are your own size, I had to have the lady measure me because I didn't know what size I was."

"Wait until Ron sees you, he's going to be jealous, he never gets his own clothes either. The only new thing he's gotten was dress robes from Fred and George." She said setting her diary down. "Is it fun to shop in muggle London?"

"Very much, maybe as soon as the adoption is final Remus will take us all again. I'm sure Hermoine would love to show you all her favorite stores." Harry told her.

"Window shopping in London would be interesting," Ginny said looking down. She knew she couldn't afford to go shopping in muggle London when all her clothes came off the second hand rack as it was.

Harry seemed to read her mind; he took her hand and made her look at him. "You don't have to worry about money anymore Gin, I would be offended if you didn't let me take you and Ron shopping." She smiled in thanks.

"Just don't tell mum, you know she'll go all crazy." She laughed looking into Harry's piercing green eyes. "Your eyes are so amazing Harry, I wish my eyes had the sparkle yours do."

He had been staring into her eyes as she said that and noticed the specks of red and purple and blue in the soft chocolate brown. "The do have it, you have all kinds of colors in your eyes, it's like a kaleidoscope of colors. I'm sorry I never noticed before, they really are beautiful." He told her, tenderly brushing her flaming red hair out of her face.

"Am I interrupting something?" Hermoine asked with a smirk from the doorway to the hall. "I didn't know you were home yet Harry."

"I was just showing Ginny my new look," He said turning around, not before noticing Ginny turning a deep shade of red at Hermione's comment, "So what do you think?" He said turning full circle for his friend.

"It's an awful big day for you Harry; you got rid of everything Dursley. New guardian, new clothes, new glasses, even new boots! Are those dragon hide?" She asked amazed at Harry's new appearance. He was handsome. His new fitting clothes showed off his Quidditch figure and the shirt showed how toned his biceps and chest was from flying. His eyes looked larger and it was if he could pierce you with his emerald gaze. Ginny better watch out, not only was Harry Potter one of the most famous wizards, but he was hot too. His groupies were never going to go away now.

"Remus and I had a lot of fun in muggle London, and we went to Diagon Alley too. I'd only ever been clothes shopping when I got my Hogwarts robes!" He laughed.

"Nice threads there Harry!" Fred said walking in and inspecting Harry.

"Yeah, I dig the boots, and the new glasses are way better." George added.

"You'd think you have money to spend now or something," Fred teased.

"Nah, he just didn't want us to steal all the girls!" George winked, noticing the menacing look his sister gave him for that comment.

"You're going to have to fight them off with a stick," Fred added, not noticing Ginny fuming at the course of the conversation. "You could send some our way when you get through with them."

"Come on now, Harry is not like that." Hermoine scolded the twins.

"Yeah, I'm sick of girls who only want me because I'm the bloody Boy-Who-Lived! I'm not some trophy to parade around the school." He thought bitterly of Cho and her never ending stream of tears. "Where's Ron?" He asked realizing his best mate was not in the room with them.

"He and Hermoine were at it again and he said some things mum didn't approve of and now he's cleaning the kitchen with mum watching." Ginny giggled.

"What did he say this time?" He asked noticing Hermione's cheek flushing.

"He was upset when he found out I was writing to Victor." Hermoine told them, "Then he went into a rant about him, I had stopped listening even before Mrs. Weasley yelled at him." She said tired, Ron was such an idiot. "I swear you boys are so thick it surprises me you don't bang your heads into things they are so heavy."

"Oi, that's not fair. We all know Ron's as big a git as they come, but the rest of us are not as bad!" George told her.

"So why were you writing to Victor anyway?" Harry asked to change the subject.

"We still keep in touch, we owl every two or three months with what has been going on in each other's lives. He just owled me to tell me about his new girlfriend and I was writing back to tell him congratulations when the king of overreacting came in and got the wrong idea." She told them.

"If he'd just get over it and admit he liked you things would be a lot calmer." Harry said sitting down in his favorite lounge chair.

"What?" The others said. Hermoine smiled; maybe Harry wasn't as thick as Ron when it came to picking up on feelings.

"It's obvious he likes you 'Moine, he just hasn't even realized it himself. He gets all upset anytime someone says something about you and look how he reacts when anyone even mentions Krum!" Harry told her, "I'm not a total idiot, I can see he does."

"Little Ronnikins loves our dear Hermoine, its just way too cute." Fred said, "Almost sickening really."

"Next thing you'll be telling us is that you fancy Ginny and that the four of you are off to kill Volde before he gets you so that you can all live happily ever after." George kidded, not knowing how close he was to the truth. Ginny immediately started crying and Hermoine looked like she had just failed an exam.

The two girls sat on the sofa and Harry explained the prophesy to Fred and George, who looked like they needed one of their Mirth-Mellows to cheer them up. "We're sorry Harry, we didn't know." Fred said patting him on the shoulder.

"Tough break mate," George added, "You know we've got your back when you need it."

"Thanks," Harry said standing, "Let's go down and get some lunch; I'm starving."

Chapter 8: A Lovely Birthday

It took two weeks for the paperwork to go through for the adoption. All Harry and Remus had to do was go to the ministry and sign some forms and it would be complete. They used the floo network to get there and arrived in the middle of the large atrium by the fountain that only a few months ago contained the statues of a wizened wizard, witch, centaur and house elf. They had been destroyed when he fought against Voldemort after the prophesy was smashed.

"I see they didn't rebuild the statues that were in the fountain." Harry mumbled on the way to the registration desk. The ministry seemed more subdued and less friendly since the last time he had been there during business hours.

"They did fix the statues, but they refused to be placed inside the fountain, so it remains empty. There was an article in the Prophet about it. It seems they kept wandering out of the fountain when they tried to place them back in there." Remus seemed to find the situation funny.

"I owe my life to those statues, it they hadn't been guarding me I'm sure I would have been hit with a few unforgivables." Harry told them as they stopped at the desk to check in. They handed the man behind the desk their wands.

"Harry Potter!" The young man exclaimed, "Is it true you fought against Voldemort right here in the atrium?" He seemed thrilled with the idea that a famous battle had taken place inches from where he worked.

Remus had his wand weighed and they left without answering the man's questions. They headed for the elevator and met Mr. Diggory on their way up. "Amos," Remus acknowledged.

"Hello Remus," Amos Diggory replied, he had lost a lot of the spark he had before Cedric died. "Harry. The house elf that was brought to me was disposed of, it would not cooperate in any way and used its magic to try and escape." He told them referring to Kretcher.

"Thank you Amos, it was a danger to the Order." Remus told him, Harry looked surprised that Remus would mention the Order in front of a non-member. "Amos is a member Harry, don't worry." Remus smiled seeing the look on his face.

"I want to do everything I can to help you stop that man, after what he did to Cedric" Amos trailed off.

"I will make him pay for all the lives he's taken and destroyed or I'll die trying." Harry told the father of the first person he ever saw die.

"That means more to me than I can say Harry." Amos said before Harry and Remus got off the lift. They finished signing all the paperwork. Remus was officially Harry's father; they were a family forever now.

"Now you just need to find me a mum," Harry joked as they left, "You know, Tonks is a nice girl." He loved the stunned look on Remus' face.

"That's just the thing Harry, she still is a girl. I'm almost old enough to be her father." Remus told his 'son' he liked that Harry thought Tonks wasn't too young, it made him feel young.

"So what? I say that if you like someone, there should be nothing stopping you from being together." He told him, he knew that Tonks had a crush on his 'dad' but he wasn't going to say anything to Remus yet. Harry was much more perceptive than Hermoine gave him credit for.

"You are one to talk; I don't see you going out with any girls." Remus told him

"I don't want to put anyone else in harm, everyone that Voldemort thinks I care about he tries to kill. You knew what you were getting into, how can I expect a girl to like me enough to risk dying just because I care about her?" Harry said as they arrived back home.

"But if you let him decide who you care about, you're just letting him destroy more lives." Remus said, it was sad that Harry couldn't be a normal teenager. "Let's just go to the kitchen and get some dinner." He said steering him to the door.

Harry opened the door, "Surprise!" Everyone yelled out. "Happy Birthday Harry," they said smiling.

"Birthday?" Harry asked he hadn't even realized what the date was; it was the first time he hadn't stayed up the night before to watch the clock turn over. "I didn't even realize." He said smiling at all his friends.

There was a giant spread of food and Fred and George had decorated with magic streamers that floated around the ceiling. There was a cake and everything. "I've never had a birthday party before." He told them all.

"The Weasleys throw the best birthday parties!" Ron said clapping him on the back as they all sat down to eat. "First we stuff ourselves and them we dance and open presents."

"Dance time!" Fred said excitedly standing up and grabbing Ginny. Mr. Weasley flicked his wand an upbeat song filled the air. Fred and Ginny danced and twirled around. Bill and Mrs. Weasley were cutting a rug too.

"Come on Harry, the birthday boy has to dance!" Ginny called out laughing as Fred spun her around.

"I can't dance!" Harry said putting his head down, "Why do you think I hated the ball during 4th year so much?"

"Come on Harry, let's give it a try," Tonks said holding out her hand, "You can't be any worse than me, you know I'm a klutz!" She said laughing as they joined the rest of the group that was dancing. As it turned out, Harry wasn't a bad dancer once he relaxed and started enjoying himself.

"Ron, Hermoine, come on, if I'm dancing you two better get dancing too!" Harry called to them; he knew they wanted to dance with each other but wouldn't admit it; they just needed a little push. "Let's go, get up, and get over here!"

They got up and started dancing together. Harry winked at Ginny and gestured toward Ron and Hermoine, she giggled at how easily Harry got them to dance. "I need a drink" he told Tonks, "why don't you dance with Remus for a while." Harry told her with a smirk as she went up and started dancing with Lupin, they looked good together, just like Ron and Hermoine did.

Harry watched his friends dancing while sipping his Butterbeer. Fred and Ginny came over to get a drink too. "You having fun Harry?" George asked, "Why aren't you dancing?"

"I lost my partner to my new parent." Harry smiled, "Looks like I get to sit this one out." He drained the last bit of his Butterbeer, he loved the warm feeling it gave him.

"Nonsense, you're the birthday boy, dance with Ginny." Fred said pushing Ginny into his arms, making her blush.

They started dancing, Ginny was a great dancer. He felt more at ease dancing with her than with Tonks. He looked over to Tonks and Remus and then to Ron and Hermoine with a smile on his face. "Looks like you're playing match maker." Ginny whispered so no one else could hear.

"Ron's an idiot for not realizing he's fallen for her, and Remus is too worried about the age difference to realize Tonks fancies him. Are all of us men this dense?" Harry asked looking deep into her kaleidoscope eyes.

"Yes, "Ginny smiled, "unless you want to prove the theory wrong." Just then the music changed to a slow song. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were dancing very close; the other four were as well. "Do you still want to dance?" Ginny asked trying to sound like it was not big deal either way, when she really just wanted to wrap her arms around Harry.

"Sure, I'm not too good at this so don't be surprised when I step on your toes." Harry said pulling her close to him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and smiled as she snaked her arms around his neck, playing with his shaggy black hair.

"Does your hair ever look any different?" She asked, she loved the feel of his hair, it was so soft.

"Only when it's wet. Once my aunt cut it all off except for a piece to cover my scar I was so scared to go to school but when I woke up the next morning, it was back to normal." He told her, reaching up to touch her mane of red hair. "You're hair is beautiful. It sort of reminds me of my mother's hair. Except yours is even shinier."

"I used to think my red hair was a curse, but when you talk about it, it almost seems special." Ginny smiled, looking deep into his green eyes.

"It is special, only special women get to have natural red hair. In the muggle world women would pay a lot of money to get hair like yours." He told her, not realizing he was pulling her even closer to his body while they talked.

Remus looked over smiling at Harry and Ginny. "Looks like Harry found himself a dance partner." He told Tonks who looked even happier than she had when he had asked her to dance. Remus had a suspicion that she fancied him, he figured that was why Harry mentioned him dating her.

"Ginny must be having fun, if the boy I liked was holding me that close I'd be positively glowing." Tonks said looking into Remus' blue grey eyes that seemed both so full of life and so full of pain and sadness. Remus caught the hint and decided to test his theory. He pulled her closer in his arms watching her smile and her eyes twinkle in an almost Dumbledore fashion. "Well now Mr. Lupin, I heard you were a Marauder, but I wasn't sure you still had it in you." She smiled and batted her eyelashes at him.

"You and Lily would have gotten along great, she used to tease me that I knew all the tricks, I just never used them. I guess I'm just a shy wolf." He said, trying to remind her of his dangerous side.

Tonks leaned closer to whisper in his ear, "Yes, but you are the sexiest wolf I've ever met." Well there it was she had laid it all out on the table. Now he knew for sure, even though she knew he had suspicions. It was his move now.

"You wouldn't think that if you saw me during the full moon. I'm a monster when I transform." He said quietly looking at his feet. He knew she liked him, but could she still care even with the monster that lurked below the surface.

"I'm not afraid." She told him, smiling and running her finger along his neckline. In response Remus pulled her even further into his arms, and buried his face in her currently jet black hair (for Harry's birthday).

The slow song ended and all the couples broke apart. "Let's let Harry open his presents now." Mrs. Weasley said smiling at Harry as the all sat around the table which now had his gifts stacked on top of it.

Mrs. Weasley had knitted him a blanket to put on his bed here at home. They also gave him a red shirt with golden snitches on it that moved around the shirt. Dobby had made Harry two more pairs of socks and Winky gave him a plate.

"If you asks it for food it will appear on the plate, now you won't be hungry at Hogwarts." She squeaked and then blushed when he hugged her in thanks.

Ron got him a book titled "The Everyday Guide to Pranks, Jokes and Breaking Rules" Harry laughed as Mrs. Weasley scolded Ron. Remus laughed loudly, just the book the son of a Marauder needed! Hermoine gave him an autographed poster of the Bulgarian Quidditch Team and England's Team (courtesy of her friendship with Victor Krum) as well as a book on "Spectacular Seekers and Special Moves".

Fred and George whispered that they had a huge box of items that was better if their mum didn't see as they handed Harry a small box with a key in it. "It's a copy of Filtch's office door key. Now you can see what else he's confiscated." They smiled as Mrs. Weasley looked questioning at the key (she didn't hear what it opens). "Don't worry mum we wouldn't give Harry anything that he could get in trouble with at school." The told her sweetly.

Remus brought out the pensive Harry had asked for. "I couldn't think of anything to get you, so I thought you might like to visit one of my memories of your mother and father. He pulled a silvery substance from his temple and placed it in the stone bowl. Harry approached cautiously and finally touched the vapory liquid. Instantly he was thrown into the pensive and his feet touched soft earth.

Looking around he saw he was at Hogwarts by the lake. He saw Remus and Sirius hiding in a clump of bushes spying on his parents. Harry walked closer to his parents to hear their conversation.

"Why do you still hate me Lily?" James asked gently, scooting closer to her on the bench they were sitting on.

"I don't hate you James," Lily responded quietly, "I don't hate you at all." She said looking deep into his hazel eyes.

"I've changed a lot this year Lily, I hope you see that I'm not the insensitive jerk I used to be. You've made me want to change for the better." He said taking her hand, "Please give me a chance. Let me spend my life proving how much you mean to me."

"James," She said smiling placing her other hand to his cheek. "You didn't need to change." James looked hurt; he had tried so hard for nothing. Lily sensing his despair turned his face towards hers. "You didn't need to change because I like you just the way you are, arrogant jerk and all."

James looked stunned. Harry smiled; this was where his parents finally got together. "I love you Lily Evans." He said while looking into her piercing green eyes. "You would make me the happiest man alive if you would go out with me."

"I love you James, I just never realized it before. I'm sorry it took me so long." Lily said pressing her lips to his in a tender kiss. Harry smiled, that was what Remus wanted to show him, their first kiss. The world suddenly righted itself and he was back in the kitchen.

"That was the best present!" Harry said running to hug Remus, "Their first kiss was great, I can't believe you and Sirius spied on them through all that!"

"We couldn't help ourselves, we had overheard Lily telling one of her friends that she liked James and then when he asked her to go to the lake with him and she agreed, we just had to know what was going on. We spent 6 ½ years trying to keep them from killing each other and less than a month from school being over for good they stopped fighting and two weeks later was their first kiss." Remus told Harry. They all ate cake and the adults went up to bed along with Fred and George. Ron and Hermoine went to finish their game of wizards' chess they had started before the party.

"Harry," Ginny said, "I didn't want to give you your present in front of everyone." She told him handing him a purple wrapped package, inside was a red leather bound journal with his name sparkling in gold letters. "I thought it might help on days when you need someone to talk to about things. You have so many responsibilities. I know you miss Sirius and are worried about Voldemort. I know you haven't been talking about it to Ron and Hermoine. Maybe this will help."

"Thanks Gin," He said hugging her. He suddenly became very aware of how close together they were. Her presence soothed his nerves, made him feel secure almost invincible.

"Can I ask you something?" She said only slightly puling away. He nodded so she continued. "Did you really mean what you said to me a few weeks ago about me being amazing and that any guy would be stupid to not want me?"

"You know I did Gin," He told her softly smiling.

"So if I liked someone I was friends with, you think he'd end our friendship if I told him how I feel if he didn't feel the same?" She asked looking straight at him, reading his face.

"He's a very lucky guy; I just hope he treats you with respect. I'll help Ron curse him if he hurts you." Harry told her, not sure why it felt like his heart just got ripped out. When he imagined Ginny with some guy, he felt a tight pain in his chest. That was when he realized why Hermoine had been calling him dense; he hadn't realized that he had fallen for Ginny.

"Promise?" Ginny asked, scared of what she was about to do. Harry nodded not wanting his voice to show how it pained him to know she liked someone else. "OK, then." Ginny leaned in on her tip toes and kissed Harry on the lips. It was tender and sweet. Electricity shot down both of their spines. She smiled at him as she pulled away, "Happy Birthday Harry." She said walking out of the room to go to bed.

Harry stood there stunned with his hand to his lips where she had just kissed him. It was the best kiss he had ever had; it sent shivers up and down his body. He so wanted to do that again! He walked out of the kitchen in a kind of trance, not even noticing the two smiling house elves in the corner of the room who had witnessed the entire thing. He lay in bed trying to sort out his feelings, not noticing that Ron didn't seem able to sleep either.

Harry liked Ginny, she was one of his closest friends, but he had never really thought about it being more than that. He knew she had a crush on him up until last year. It was last year they had become friends. He was also afraid of what Ron's reaction would be to him liking his little sister, or any of the Weasleys for that matter. He loved them all and didn't want to ruin that relationship for a teenage romance. He sighed out loud.

Ron was laying awake thinking about how it felt nice dancing with Hermoine. He hated the thought of her going out with Victor Krum, and hated Malfoy for the things he said about her. Could he really have fallen in love with one of his best friends? What would Harry think? What if he liked her too? Ron was afraid to loose their close friendship. He sighed loudly, at the same time Harry had. They looked at each other and laughed. "Trouble sleeping mate?" Ron asked him.

"Yeah, but I'm guessing you can't sleep due to girl problems." Harry told him.

Ron looked suspiciously at Harry, had he been that obvious that Harry already knew he fancied her? "Sort of, I'm just trying to figure some stuff out."

"If it helps, I think she fancies you too." Harry told him smiling at the shocked look on Ron's face. "Did you ever think that the reason you two fight and argue all the time is because you like each other? Look at what happened when she went to the Yule Ball with Krum, you were practically foaming at the mouth you were so angry, but the only reason you were mad was because you really wanted to be there with her." Ron shrugged, "And look how many times you've gotten into trouble because you tried to curse Malfoy for saying something bad about her. We are both her friends and both hate Malfoy, but you're the one always rushing to defend her honor."

"When did you become so observant about girls?" Ron asked him, "And am I just an idiot for not realizing this?"

"I'm trying to be more observant in general, you know what Moody says, 'Constant Vigilance!' besides you're a guy; we're not supposed to understand girls." Harry told his friend.

"But if you figured it out and you're a guy, she has to have realized, she's the cleverest witch in our year." Ron said miserably, "She must think I'm a total git."

"She's always thought that, so you don't have to worry!" Harry joked as Ron hit him with his pillow. "Besides, would she have danced with you all night if she didn't at least like you a little?"

"Girls are so frustrating!" Ron called out.

"Tell me about it." Harry said sighing again. Ron looked over at his friend smiling.

"You having girl problems too?" he asked Harry.

"Kind of." Harry said, knowing he couldn't tell Ron about Ginny. "I'm just afraid that Voldemort is going to hurt anyone I'm close to, I need to distance myself so that nobody else gets hurt. You guys are stuck, he already knows about you."

"So is there someone special you like?" Ron asked him, "You do not still like Cho do you?"

"Cho? No, I'm totally over her. In fact, I'm not sure I ever really liked her, I just thought she was pretty, as soon as I got to know her I didn't like her anymore. Besides, I don't need someone that high maintenance. I want someone who I can talk to and have fun with, someone who gets along with you and Hermoine so we can all hang out." Harry said, trying to be a vague as possible.

"Don't forget about Ginny." Ron told him.

"What about Ginny?" Harry squeaked out, hoping Ron wouldn't notice his red face and figure out he liked his sister.

"Whoever you hook up with, she'll have to get along with Ginny too." Ron said.

"Yeah, I don't think that will be a problem." Harry said turning to his side to sleep. He didn't want to talk about girls anymore in case Ron figured out about Ginny.

Ginny and Hermoine were sitting smiling on Ginny's bed. Ginny had told her that she had kissed Harry. They were sitting listening to the boys through extendable ears. "So my idiot brother finally figured it out, it sure took him long enough," they laughed as Ron talked about Hermoine knowing. Ginny sat up very straight when Ron asked Harry about his girl problems. She was touched that Harry would sacrifice having a love life to keep more people from getting hurt and was glad to hear him say he was totally over Cho. Hermoine giggled at Harry's last comment about it not being a problem having the girl he likes get along with Ginny.

"What's so funny?" Ginny asked confused, she really had hoped Harry didn't like anybody, but it sounded like he did.

"Nothing," Hermoine said, she wanted the two of them to get together on their own terms. "I was just picturing Ron's face when I gave Harry those posters Victor helped me get," she said trying to cover what she actually found funny. The girls put the extendable ears away and went to sleep.

Chapter 9: OWLS

As Harry and Ron entered the Kitchen they saw that Hermoine looked like she was about to hyperventilate. Harry looked questioningly at Ginny who tried to suppress a giggle as she handed Ron and Harry each a letter. It was from Hogwarts, it must be their OWL results. Now Harry understood Hermione's panicky expression, she would be devastated if she didn't get the best grades. He sunk down into his seat fingering the thick parchment of the envelope before slowly tearing it open.

He took a deep breath and opened the results. His hand shook at he tried to focus on the paper:

Astronomy: A

Care of Magical Creatures: E

Charms: O

Defense Against the Dark Arts: O

Divination: P

Herbology: O

History of Magic: D

Potions: O

Transfiguration: O

Harry couldn't believe it, he had gotten 7 owls! He even got the O he needed in potions to become an auror! He jumped out of his set and ran to Remus hugging him, "I did it. I can still be an auror!" He showed Remus his grades. Remus smiled, Snape was going to be very upset that Harry had gotten an Outstanding.

"Great job son, I'm very proud of you." Remus told him, not realizing he had called Harry son until he noticed Mrs. Weasley start to cry and everyone else was staring at them. "What?" He asked everyone, looking at Molly Weasley.

"It's so sweet, you called him son. I'm so happy for you two," She told him. Harry just smiled, he had been surprised by the name, but he liked it a lot. He had never been called that before.

"How did you do Ron?" Ginny asked her brother, smiling at Harry who had obviously done well. Ron opened his letter; he knew Harry was smart, so he just hoped he had studied hard enough.

Astronomy: D

Care of Magical Creatures: E

Charms: E

Defense Against the Dark Arts: O

Divination: A

Herbologry: A

History of Magic: D

Potions: A

Transfiguration: E

"I got 7 owls!" Ron said surprised. "I even passed Divination!" Ron said as he and Harry swapped results to look at each others. "Wow Harry, you got 4 Outstandings, that's great. You even got an O in potions."

"You got an O in Defense Against the Dark Arts, I bet old Umbridge is all pissed off that we did well." Harry laughed, "Looks like we both get out of History of Magic, it's a shame though, I enjoyed my sleeping time in there!"

"I'm so proud of both of you boys." Mrs. Weasley said hugging them both and kissing Ron. "I think you should open it now dear," she told Hermoine who still looked pale.

"Yeah 'Moine, if I got 7 owls, you had to have done well. You are way smarter than Harry and me!" Ron said trying to reassure their friend.

She finally slowly opened her results. Her eyes got huge; she screamed and ran out of the room in hysterical tears. Ron ran after her, Harry looked to Ginny who picked up Hermione's results. "FRED, GEORGE!" Ginny screamed. Harry had never seen her look so angry, "GET IN HERE NOW!" Harry looked at Hermione's OWLs, they were straight Ds. He knew how important these exams were to Hermoine, he also knew her greatest fear was to fail everything, he was going to kill Fred and George. The twins walked into the kitchen trying to look innocent, but everyone could tell they were guilty. "YOUâ I" Ginny couldn't even begin to say all the nasty things she wanted to.

"Go fix it!" Harry bellowed, scaring everyone in the room at the forcefulness in his tone, "She is hysterical, her greatest fear is to fail everything and you went and faked her OWLs! How could you be so cruel?" Harry didn't have to say another word, for at that exact moment Ron came back into the kitchen and punched Fred who was closest to the door and then rounded on George who backed out of the way.All the Weasleys started screaming at each other, nobody noticed Remus slink out of the room to find Hermoine.

She was curled up on her bed, still bawling when he found her. "Hermoine," he said tenitively, "They were not your real OWLs. The twins switched them as a prank." She looked up at him with hopeful eyes. He had been there when she tried to fight the boggart that told her she had failed everything; he knew how important her grades were to her. "Come on, let's go back down and find out what they did with your grades." She looked up to him with hopeful eyes.

"Iâ Iâ I didn't really fâ fâ fail?" She sobbed, she trusted Professor Lupin, if he said it was a prank, she would believe him.

"No, you did not fail." He told her steering her back to the kitchen where the Weasleys were still arguing. Ron was being held back by Mrs. Weasley who's face was purple with anger, Fred had a broken lip and black eye, George had a red hand print across his face from being slapped and Ginny was cradling her hand and being restrained by Harry who looked like he would have loved to hit the twins as well.

They all turned to look at Hermoine when Remus dragged her into the room. She looked awful, her eyes were swollen and puffy and her hair was stuck to her face in spots. Ron broke free of his mum and raced to her side. "It's ok 'Moine, they played an idiot prank on you, it's not real." He put his hand to her face and moved the hairs that were stuck out of her way in a very touching gesture. She turned to look at the twins who had their heads bowed looking at their feet.

"We're sorry Hermoine, we're insensitive and stupid." George told her.

"We didn't think you'd be so upset, we're sorry." Fred said, "We intercepted the owl and had him deliver our fake letter instead."

"We were planning on making up fake ones for all of you, but we ran out of time." George said, "Here's your actual letter." He handed her a letter from inside his robes. "I really am sorry."

She took the letter and sat down at the table to open it. It couldn't get any worse than the fake one, so she took a deep breath and opened it.

Ancient Runes: O

Arithmacy: O

Astronomy: E

Care of Magical Creatures: O

Charms: O

Defense Against the Dark Arts: O

Herbologry: O

History of Magic: O

Potions: O

Transfiguration: O

She started crying again, but this time out of happiness. She put her face in her hands and handed her results to Remus who smiled. "10 OWLs, 9 Outstandings and 1 Exceeds Expectations. Very well done Hermoine, I'm sure your parents will be very proud."

"And I'm sure you would have gotten an O in Astronomy if Umbridge hadn't attacked Hagrid and Professor McGonagall." Harry added hoping to cheer her up.

"This proves that you are the smartest witch in our class." Ron told her smiling; he knew she would do great, but 9 O's! "You did better than both Percy and Bill and they were both Head Boy, I bet you did the best of the year."

"She did," Ginny said, "It says so right here in the letter. You got the highest score on all your exams except Astronomy and Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"I wonder who got the best in Defense Against the Dark Arts?" She asked happy now that she got the grades she wanted.

"I did." Harry said surprised as he looked over his letter. "I got the highest score ever. I didn't miss a single point on the written and had the highest ever practical score."

"Way to go both of you." Remus said, "Between the two of you, you received the highest scores of 9 out of the 12 classes! Those Revenclaws will be eating their words now, they can't say they have the smartest students anymore, not with you two being in Gryffindor!"

"We got our book lists for next year too." Ginny said finally opening her letter. "Oh my!" Ginny exclaimed as a silver badge dropped out of her letter. "I got made a Prefect!"

"Way to go Gin," Harry said giving her a hug, "You'll make a great prefect."

"I'm so proud of you Ginny, now what kind of present do you want for being made prefect?" Mrs. Weasley said smiling at her youngest child.

"I was hoping to get a pet." She said shyly. "I don't know what kind I want yet though." She told her mum.

"I'm sure we'll find you one when we go to Diagon Alley." Molly told her, "Is there anything special you need for 6th year?" She asked Ron, Harry and Hermoine.

"What?" Harry said jumping up, pulling a silver prefect badge out of his Hogwarts letter too. "But you get Prefect in 5th year." He was confused. "Maybe it's a mistake?" He said looking at Ron.

"Mine letter still tells me to be in the prefect car for orders." Ron said looking as confused as Harry was, "So at least they didn't take mine away.'

"There's another badge!" Harry said staring shocked at the beautiful red and gold badge in his hand; it read 'Quidditch Captain.' "Did you guys mess with my letter too?" He asked the twins.

"No, you can't fake those, Dumbledore makes them that way." Fred explained.

"Wow, then I'm Quidditch captain too." Harry said shocked. Ginny hugged him, she knew how much he loved Quidditch.

"This calls for a celebration! Everyone has had such good news today. Let's all go to Diagon Alley to get their supplies and then we can have dinner at 'Le Wiz' to celebrate everyone's success." Remus told them all.

"We can go to Diagon Alley, but 'Le Wiz'? That might be a little much for us." Mrs. Weasley said blushing. 'Le Wiz' was the nicest restaurant in Diagon Alley, only the rich could afford to dine there.

Harry saw the dreamy expression on Ginny's face at the mention of the restaurant; he had heard it was the nicest wizarding restaurant in England. "I like the idea, it's my treat, if you won't let me give you my Gringotts vault at least let me buy us all dinner." It was settled, they all ran upstairs to change into their good robes. Harry put on his new silk Midnight Blue robes with the Potter Crest and wore one of his nicest shirts and pants beneath with his new dress shoes as well. Even he was impressed with how he looked. Harry was glad the twins had gotten Ron new dress robes so he didn't feel awkward. Hermoine wore her light blue robes she had worn to the Yule Ball and Ginny was in pale yellow robes that looked amazing against her red hair.

"You look breathtaking." Harry whispered to her as they stepped into the fireplace. "Yellow looks amazing against your beautiful red hair." Ginny could barely breathe; Harry had acted like she didn't kiss him all morning, but now he was whispering sweet nothings in her ear.

"I like your robes too; the silk with your family crest is very nice." She whispered before taking his hand and yelling "Diagon Alley."

Harry helped her out of the fireplace and leaned in close to her, brushing his lips against hers quickly. "Blue and Yellow go together very well." He said smiling. She was shocked, did Harry just kiss her? She was also aware that he was still holding her hand. When they heard someone in the fireplace behind them, he dropped her hand and moved away slightly. She realized that he didn't want any of her family to see them. She was going to have to talk with him later about this.

They got all their school supplies. Harry bought five or six extra defense against the dark arts books for his collection as well as bought Hermoine a book called "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Continuing Your Magical Education." They refilled their potion stores and went to buy new parchment, quills and ink. Harry saw Ginny looking longingly at a purple quill and rainbow ink. Mrs. Weasley reminded her that she only needed black ink and that she had plenty of quills. Ginny didn't even bother looking at the nice parchment, before she felt Harry's hand on her arm.

"You don't want such thin parchment, just tell me what you want and I'll get it. I won't tell your mum." He winked at her as she pointed to a stack of beautiful ivory parchment that was thick and wouldn't smudge. Harry saw a stack of purple parchment and got that as well as the ink and quill she had been looking at. Remus handed him what looked like four empty ink bottles to purchase and told him he would explain later. Once they had gotten all their supplies, Tonks left to take them back while they all went to find Ginny's new pet.

They went to three different stores and Ginny was starting to get depressed, she hadn't found an animal that she loved. Her parents had insisted on going back to the first store and left Remus and the trio to wander around until they got back. They walked closer to Fred and George's shop and Harry stopped. There in a window was a perfect pet for Ginny. It was a black kitten with green eyes and a lightning bolt shaped patch of yellow fur between its ears. Harry went into the shop and picked up the kitten, it started purring immediately.

"She's a feisty one, lots of people want her for her looks but she hisses and bites at them, she's waiting for the right owner." The shop keeper told him.

"She is pretty." Harry said scratching the kittens head.

"I wanted to nickname her Potter, since she has a lightning bolt like Harry Potter, but it just didn't seem like a fitting name. I wonder why she is so taken with you." The shop keeper mused.

The shop door opened and Ginny and her parents walked in. She looked from the kitten to Harry and back, "She looks just like you Harry," she whispered taking the gorgeous black cat from him. The kitten purred and batted at Ginny's hair playfully.

"Well I'll be that cat hasn't been nice to a single person until you two walked in." The owner said smiling. "You must be who she was waiting for."

"I love her," Ginny said smiling at the little black cat in her arms. "This is the pet I want mum, I couldn't let someone else have a cat that looks so much like Harry here." She laughed.

"If she's like me then she's been looking for a good home, and I'm sure she'll love you Gin." Harry said petting the purring kitten in her arms.

"She's a magical cat," The owner told her, "She'll never get any bigger, and she'll always look like a kitten. Her parents were very intelligent cats with different magic abilities. She hasn't showed any of her abilities, but I know they're in there."

The Weasleys paid the woman for the cat and bought Ginny a carrier for her as well. "We're going to dinner; can we come by and pick her up afterwards?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"Sure. I'm open late. Besides I want to say my goodbyes to her. She is the most unique cat I've ever sold. I wanted to keep her, but she doesn't want me." The lady said bidding them farewell.

They all headed for Le Wiz, Remus had made reservations so they were seated right way. "Wow!" Hermoine said as they were led to their large table.

"It's magnificent." Mrs. Weasley said as she took her seat. They all ordered and were talking happily before they were interrupted.

"If it isn't Potty and the Weasels," Drawled Draco Malfoy sneering at their table.

"Malfoy." Harry said, he knew Malfoy wouldn't try anything in public. "Is there something we can help you with?"

"I didn't know they let trash like you into a place like this." Draco said, "Are you going to have to sell your house to pay bill?" He laughed at Ron and his family.

"We are having a nice meal here Draco; I would suggest you go join your mother before she gets lonely. I'm sure it's difficult for her with your father in prison." Remus said trying to avoid an altercation. Draco just glared and then stalked off.

Draco sat across the restaurant at a table with his mother. He kept staring at Potter and his friends. He wouldn't let anyone know, but he wished his family was as caring as the Weasleys. They had seven children and treated them all with kindness and love as well as embracing Harry and Hermoine as one of their own. Then there was Professor Lupin, his father had told him that Lupin and James Potter were friends. Harry had more people that cared about him than Malfoy could ever imagine. He wished he had someone that cared about him. His father never cared about him and his mother only cared about money. He hated Potter; he had everything Draco had ever wanted. And to top it all off, he had two beautiful women with him. He recognized one as the Weasley girl, who would have thought she would have turned out so well and the other was a woman he had never seen. She had long flowing blonde hair, purple eyes, a very pretty face and she actually looked good in hot pink robes. She was gorgeous. Draco also noted that she was sitting very close to Remus Lupin. "I bet she doesn't know he's a werewolf!" He said watching her excuse herself to the powder room. He got up and followed her.

"You are too beautiful a woman to be with a creature like Remus Lupin," He said cutting her off on her way to the bathroom door. "You deserve someone who can treat you the way you deserve. My name is Draco Malfoy." He said kissing her hand, "And I can give you everything you've ever dreamed of."

"I'm" Tonks said thinking fast, using her real name would get her nowhere, she might be able to get information out of the little Malfoy, "I'm Amanda Theodore," she smiled at him, "It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Malfoy."

"I think you should join me for dinner this Friday evening, we could be very good together." He told her using his Malfoy charm, women never said no to him.

"I would have to make sure Remus hasn't made plans for us first," She fake laughed, pretending to seem sad at the thought.

"Oh, you won't be able to be with him on Friday, that's the full moon. I wouldn't want a beautiful woman like you to be hurt by him." Draco said pausing for effect, "I'm sure he's mentioned that he's a werewolf and is not safe around the full moon."

"Werewolf?" Tonks said putting on her best 'scared' face and feigning innocence.

"Oh, he didn't tell you." Draco said pretending to be sympathetic. "Let me help you forget about him.

"I would love to meet you. I'm staying at the Leaky Caldron; you can pick me up at 7 on Friday." She said batting her eyelashes. Draco smiled, he knew he could win her away from his pathetic ex-teacher.

"He was too old for you; let me show you what kind of life you could have with me." Draco said kissing her hand again, "until Friday." He said and went back to his table.

Tonks headed back to her table. "We need an Order meeting, I just talked to Malfoy." She whispered without moving her lips. "I need to pretend I'm having a bad time and leave early. Get the meeting set up."

Remus looked confused but agreed. He was surprised when she stood up and said fairly loudly, "I don't think we should see each other anymore, you're just not the man I thought you were." She winked quickly before walking out of the restaurant. She went to the Leaky Caldron and got 'Amanda Theodore' a room for the week.

Remus pretended to be confused and hurt; he could see Malfoy smirking across the restaurant. Harry understood that it was all and act, and figured it was for Malfoy's sake so he moved to the seat next to Remus and put his arm around his shoulder for show. They had been finished with their meal before Tonks went to the bathroom, so they finished their drinks and left quickly.

"What was all that about?" Ron asked when they got back, Remus ran off to call an Order meeting.

"I'm sure Tonks will explain as soon as the Order is here." Molly told him. "You should all go and change out of your dress robes before they get here." They went up the stairs, Ginny and Harry in the back.

"I hope you had fun tonight." Harry said to her, "You looked like you belonged in that restaurant, you are so beautiful." He whispered to her so they could not be overheard. "Meet me in the drawing room at 11 pm; wear your new invisibility cloak so you don't get caught." He winked at her before going to his room to change. He wanted to talk with her in private about what was going on between them.

They all sat in the kitchen waiting once they had changed. Tonks arrived shortly after they were all assembled. "Sorry it took me so long, I was getting a room at the Leaky Caldron, and I'll explain it all at the meeting."

The Order was mostly assembled, and she told them all of her conversation with Draco Malfoy. "I thought that playing along might get us some inside information. I gave him a false name and registered under that name at the inn. Now I just want to know if I should proceed."

They voted to have her continue her charade and Dumbledore sent a few others out to set up her false identity in the ministry database. She and Remus were to come up with a believable story of how they met and their dating history. Hermoine reminded her to memorize the features she was wearing now so she could make sure she duplicated them exactly.

When the meeting was over she apologized to Harry for ruining his night. "You didn't spoil anything, just be careful with Malfoy, he won't stop until he gets what he wants." He said smiling. "There is something you could do for me, sort of like a belated birthday, congratulations on Quidditch Caption kind of thing."

"What?" She asked curious what Harry would want from her.

"I want to see the real you. Can you show me what you really look like?" He asked her, "Please."

"I'll show you and Remus, but nobody else but my family knows what I truly look like." She led them into the drawing room and closed the door. She morphed into a woman with hazel eyes and medium length sandy brown hair. She has a small nose and is only about 5' 5" tall. Harry thought she was perfect for Remus, exactly his type. She even looked older.

"You are beautiful." Remus said walking up to her and touching her face. "I like the real you." They stared at each other for sometime, both forgetting that Harry was in the room. "I want you to promise to be careful around Draco; you know he's related to you through his mother."

"I'll be very careful, I promise." She said moving closer to him. They were practically hugging they were standing so close. "I've never shown my true self to any man before, I always wanted to save it for someone special"

"You are an amazing woman, you are smart and funny and beautiful. Why would you choose me?" He said, finally asking the question he had been dying to know.

"You make me smile, I feel safe when I'm near you. You are smart and charming and loyal. I just think you are amazing." She told him smiling. Harry knew he should leave, but he was afraid they would be embarrassed if they remembered he was there and stop what was about to happen.

Remus took her face in both hands and leaned in and kissed her. She smiled at the touch and responded. She was glad he got over his fear of their age gap; she had a feeling that he was the one for her. "You better get back to the inn before someone misses you." Remus said breaking away from the kiss. He had never been kissed like that before.

Tonks was on cloud 9, she had never been kissed like that before, with such feeling, like he was toughing her soul not just her lips. "I'll see you later; I'll keep in touch about Malfoy." She said turning towards the door and laughing when she saw Harry sitting on a sofa with a smirk on his face. "Keep an eye on him for me Harry."

"Oops." Was all Remus had to say with a shrug. They both laughed hard and Harry told him that he was glad.

"I told you that Tonks was a nice woman." Harry laughed, "I'm glad to see you working on finding me a mum."

Harry went and lay down in bed waiting for 11 when he would see Ginny.

Chapter 10: Hiding Our Feelings

Harry walked quietly to the drawing room at ten to 11 to wait for Ginny. He wanted to show her his secret study, he hadn't told anyone about it, even Ron or Remus. It was the one place he could get away to be by himself. Dobby had told him about it the day he arrived.

The door to the drawing room opened slowly and then shut. "Harry?" Ginny asked slowly taking off her invisibility cloak. She looked beautiful in her dressing gown. Harry couldn't believe he had never noticed in all the years he had know her how pretty she was.

"Over here," He whispered approaching the bookcase that the secret room was behind. "I want to show you something." He took her hand and whispered "Slytherin Sucks," to the book shelf and it moved sideways, revealing a small but beautiful study. It was decorated in red and gold and looked a lot like the Gryffindor common room. Harry had had Winky redecorate; it was Slytherin colors when he found it. There was a very comfortable red sofa in the middle along with two armchairs with bookshelves on one wall, a large cherry wood desk on another and a small fireplace on the other wall.

"This is a great room." Ginny said as the bookshelf closed behind them.

"You don't have to whisper anymore, it's soundproof." Harry said hanging her cloak on the back of one of the chairs. "This is my private retreat, I haven't told anyone about it, except now for you." He said turning to look at her.

"Harry," Ginny started placing her hand against his face. He just smiled at her, and she became lost in the endless emerald pools of his eyes.

"Gin, you are the most amazing woman I've ever met," He said taking her in his arms and whispering in her ear again he said, "I'm falling in love with you."

Ginny was too shocked to speak, had the boy she'd been in love with since the moment she laid eyes on him, had he just told her that he was falling in love with her? She knew he felt something, why else would he have kissed her, but falling for her, it was more than she ever hoped for.

Harry leaned down and kissed her again. "I'm afraid Gin, for the first time I'm afraid of fighting Voldemort." He told her as they sat on the couch. "He tries to hurt everyone I care for; I couldn't stand it if he hurt you just to get to me." Ginny could see that Harry had tears in his eyes just thinking about her getting hurt.

"He already knows we are friends, I knew the risk when I became friends with you Harry, and yet I'm not afraid. I believe you are going to beat him; you are the strongest person I've ever met. I could tell it from the first moment I saw you, even before I knew who you were." She told him, leaning in to embrace him.

"If he knew what I would go through to save you though Gin," he said shaking his head, "You'd be in more danger than anyone else."

"What do you mean Harry?" She asked, "You'd risk your life to save any of us, he already knows that."

"He doesn't know that I'd willingly give my life up if it meant saving you," Harry whispered looking away, he was afraid he would scare her with how much he cared. Ginny forced him to look at her.

"I love you Harry, and that isn't going to stop just because Voldemort may be after me because of it." Ginny said, kissing him again. This time neither one pulled away for a long time.

"What about your family?" Harry asked when they finally broke apart, "Your mum's scarier than Voldemort sometimes." He said trying to lighten the mood.

Ginny realized Harry was right, her family would freak out that her and Harry were together, they still thought she was a little girl. Ron would be so mad at Harry for 'taking advantage' of his little sister. "Then we'll just have to keep our feelings a secret." Ginny said smiling at him. "As far as anyone else knows, we're just friends."

"You are amazing Gin," Harry told her, "I'm sorry it took me so long to see." He kissed her again, pouring all his feelings into the embrace. They held each other for a while longer until he saw Ginny yawning. "You need to get to bed." He said helping her put the invisibility cloak back on and checking that no one was in the drawing room through the peep hole in the wall before opening the secret door.

"I'll meet you here tomorrow night after Hermoine falls asleep." Ginny said kissing his cheek before they headed off to their rooms.

The next morning at breakfast Remus, Ginny and Harry all wore smiles on their faces. They seemed to be in very good moods. Hermoine was the only one who noticed, of course. She smiled to herself; she would have to ask Ginny about it later.

They spent the morning going through their new school things and talking about the upcoming school year. Ginny and Ron had thanked Harry about a thousand times for the good parchment. "Look guys, I have way too much money, let me spend it on you. You guys are my best friends, I love you. I don't want this to become a big deal."

"Ok mate," Ron said holding out his hand, "I promise not to let it, and you can buy me whatever you would like." Ron looked at Ginny, giving her a look that said she should make the same promise.

Ginny got up and gave Harry a kiss on the cheek, enjoying watching him blush. "I promise that I won't make a big deal about it, but I'll also continue to kiss you every time you buy me something." She said with a wink that the other two didn't catch.

"Ginny!" Ron said looking scandalized, "What if he gets a girlfriend when we get back to school, I don't think she'd like you kissing Harry every time he buys you a Butterbeer or something."

Ginny tried not to look upset with the idea of Harry getting a girlfriend. "Any girlfriend of mine will just have to be ok with the fact that Gin and I are close." Harry said, "Besides everyone at school knows that we are all friends."

Hermoine giggled, her suspicions were confirmed, there was definitely something going on between Harry and Ginny and seeing Ron's face she knew he was one of the main reasons they weren't telling anyone they were together.

Dumbledore had called another Order meeting for that night, so they all put their school stuff away to get ready for it. Harry really liked his new trunk, it had 6 different compartments. He liked that it used to belong to his grandfather; it was nice to have a few things that were his families.

They all gathered in the kitchen for the meeting. Harry loved the look of loathing Snape gave him as he shook his hand when he arrived (an Order tradition when time permitted). "Good evening Severus, I trust you had a safe trip." Harry said knowing that his potions professor would rather strangle him than play nice.

"Yes, it was quite uneventful." Snape responded curtly, he was never one for small talk, least of all to Potter. "I hope you have been practicing your Occlumency Harry, we will begin lessons again as soon as classes resume." Snape smirked; he knew how much the boy hated him probing around in his thoughts.

"Professor Dumbledore mentioned that to me earlier, I'm sure the lessons will be handled more effectively than last time." Harry fake smiled, it took every ounce of strength in him not to wipe the smirk off of Snape's face.

"Good evening Severus," Remus said, knowing the two of them could not maintain their fake conversation much longer without curses or foul language being exchanged. "I'm sure you heard Harry and my good news."

"Yes, it was very good of you to take Harry here in as your son." Snape did not disguise the disgust in his voice at Harry's name or the word son.

"It was the least I could do, I'm sure Lily would have wanted me to make sure he is treated properly," Remus told him. Harry didn't miss the flash of emotion in Snape's eyes at the mention of his mother. "Did you realize that his aunt and uncle locked him in a cupboard every night until he got his Hogwarts letter and that his cousin used him as a punching bag until this very summer?"

Snape had never thought of what it must have been like growing up for Harry, he had always assumed he was pampered and spoiled just like his father had been. He looked at Harry who had looked away at the mention of his relatives. "Yes, they didn't even tell him he was a wizard, lied to him his whole life. Can you imagine how upset Lily would be to know what a horrible childhood her son had? He never had any friends until he came to Hogwarts, he didn't even know why so many people stared at him. Can you imagine, he never even knew he was famous, all he wanted was to do well in school, make his professors proud?"

That was all Snape could handle, everything he had ever thought about Harry had been wrong. He had been horrible to the boy thinking he was just like his father, when he actually was more like his mother than even Harry knew. He looked at Harry in an entire different light. "Well, it was a good thing you got him out of there then Remus." Snape said the edge out of his voice. "I'll see you back at school Harry." He said before walking away.

Harry just stared, all the spite had left Snape's voice, but more than that, Harry could see in his professor's eyes that most of the hate had disappeared. "What was all of that about?" He asked Remus shocked.

"He never knew what you went through," Remus told him, "I tried to tell him when I was a professor but he wouldn't listen, he thought you were raised to be a spoiled prat like James was when he went to school." The meeting was called to order.

"The public has called for Cornelius Fudge to resign; the Wizegammot had agreed to elect a new Minister of Magic." Dumbledore told all assembled. There were a few cheers. "I have been asked to submit names of those who I believe would well serve the community." The room was silent; they were all waiting for the list of names he would submit. "I told them the only man I thought would be good for the job was Arthur Weasley. The other members agreed."

The Weasleys looked stunned, none more so than Arthur. "They are putting together a list of two other names, and the elections will be held in two weeks." He told them. "I believe all the names will be Order members, so we will once again be able to count on the support of the Ministry." Everyone gathered around Mr. Weasley to give him their support. Dumbledore winked at Harry and motioned him closer.

"I believe you and Miss Weasley made a good decision to keep your relationship a secret for now. You two will be facing many trials this year that would be made more difficult if your feelings were known." He told Harry.

"Sir, may I ask about being made prefect?" Harry asked.

"This year prefects are given their own rooms, I wanted you and the others to be able to discuss Order business away from the rest of the school. I also thought it would make running the D.A. easier for you." He said eyes twinkling, "I was able to make you a prefect since the 7th year prefect was made Head Boy."

The meeting went on to discuss the plan for Tonks and Malfoy's date. They were assigned security details to follow them using the invisibility cloaks that Harry found. Remus pulled Tonks aside after the meeting. "Please be careful, Draco is very much like his father. He may even be a death eater already. I'm sure he is still in contact with his father in Azkaban. I don't want anything to happen to you." From everyone else's perspective they looked like two close friends talking, but Harry knew they were more.

"Remus, I'll be careful. Remember that if you see him you have to pretend that he stole your girlfriend and that you are still upset about it." Tonks told him.

"As long as he doesn't really steal my girlfriend I'll be ok." Remus whispered smiling at her reaction to being called his girlfriend.

"There's no way he could steal my heart, you already have it." She whispered back, they had decided to keep their relationship a secret for a while. "I will have to pretend to be with him, I'll have to hold his hand or arm, even kiss him to get the information." She warned him.

"I know I'm just worried. He may be a kid, but he's a very manipulative kid that had been trained by his father." Remus said as they broke apart. "Just be safe."

The next night was the date. Tonks was frantically going through her clothes in her room when Harry came in and shut the door. "Be careful. I know what Malfoy is capable of. Remus would be devastated if something happened to you, and so would I." He told her, watching her scramble around trying to pack her nicest clothes. "Why don't you go buy new robes in Diagon Alley, that way no body could possibly recognize your clothes."

He said handing her a pouch of galleons.

"Thanks," She said, "About last night, what you saw." She started, "We decided to keep out relationship a secret until this whole Malfoy business is over with."

"I understand, it's safer, you wouldn't want the Death Eaters to find out and use it against you." Harry said smiling and leaving her to pack what little of her things she was going to take to the inn.

Tonks had a good time shopping that afternoon. She got much better service once she 'accidentally' jingled her money bag showing she had money to spend. She bought a mint green dress that hugged her curves and matching robes to wear over top. She bought silver shoes and a hair ties. She also bought a short black skirt with a silver top and silk black robes with them, as well as a strappy knee length black dress, black heals, a satin silver pants set and matching silver robes. She also bought some everyday clothes and assorted accessories, she knew Harry would never take any of the money he gave her back. She also bought a few books to occupy her time and ate lunch at her favorite bistro.

She dressed in the mint green dress and robes for her date. The dress was strapless and showed her figure and almost touched the floor, the robes were almost see through they were so thin and delicate. It was the most expensive clothing she had ever owned, but Malfoy was used to expensive things and would be expecting her to look the part like she had at Le Wiz.

She put her long hair up in a twist at the base of her neck and put silver shadow on her eyes and pale pink lipstick. She twirled around the room in her dress and robes. "You look wonderful honey." Her mirror told her. She tried to get into character; she needed to impress Malfoy so she could get information from him. She went down to the bar to wait for him, and sipped a cup of tea to calm her nerves. She didn't even notice the place get quiet when he entered.

"Good evening Amanda," Draco said standing to her side holding out his hand to help her up.

"Good evening Mr. Malfoy." She said smiling and taking his hand as he led her from the bar.

"You look exquisite tonight," He said placing her hand on his arm, "Green is my favorite color." He was wearing black robes with his family crest on them and black pants with a crisp white shirt. He looked quite handsome; Tonks could see why all the women were staring at him.

"Thank you; you look very handsome as well." She said pretending to be shy. "Where are we going for dinner?"

"To my manor," He said helping her into a carriage. "I wanted us to be able to get to know each other. If I were to take you to a restaurant we would not be able to converse without interruption." They made small talk about the weather during the carriage ride. Malfoy Manor was spectacular. It was made of white brick and had black marble accents. The main entry was spectacular. The polished black marble hall was spectacular and the windows were dressed with deep green curtains. Draco led her into a magnificent dining room off of the main hall. The table was set for two but could easily sit 20 people. He helped her to her seat and called to the house elves that they were ready for dinner.

"Your house is magnificent." Tonks said truthfully, flashing him another shy smile. She never expected to be inside Malfoy Manor, her mother had told her about it when she was little and she used to dream about living there. "Is your mother not joining us?" She asked noting that the table was only set for two.

"She is staying at our villa in France for the rest of the summer." Draco told her, he was glad his mother was gone; dinners were always full of strained conversations when she was around. The elves brought out champagne and appetizers. Draco filled her glass and proposed a toast. "To your beauty." He said smiling at her. She was one of the most beautiful women he had ever met.

She smiled sweetly at him, "You are too sweet Mr. Malfoy." She batted her eyelashes at him as she brought her glass delicately up to her lips.

"Please," he said, "Call me Draco." They finished their appetizers and waited for the main course. "So, Amanda, tell me about yourself."

"What would you like to know?" She asked smiling, going over the fake identity the Order had constructed in her head.

"How old are you?" Draco asked curiously, he knew she was older than him.

"I'm 25," she told him, she was actually almost 30, but everyone had assured her she didn't look a day over 25. "Does it matter to you that I'm older than you?" She asked faking concern.

"I'm not concerned with what others think anymore." He told her thinking of how he had always done whatever his father had wanted and never gave any thought to what he himself wanted. The main course was served and they ate in comfortable silence. Tonks had never thought a Malfoy could be good company, but he hadn't said one conceited or arrogant thing yet.

Draco got up after they were finished, "Would you like to dance?" He said taking her hand and leading her into an adjoining ballroom. He held her securely in his arms as they danced around the room. He told her how his family didn't really care about him and how he had never been a good person.

"I don't think you're a bad person," She told him, trying her best to sound sincere. He had sounded truthful when he was telling her about his family.

"You wouldn't say that if you had heard all the awful things I've said to people over the years. My father raised me to believe that the only people worth living were pure-bloods. I never doubted it until he was sent to prison." He said pulling her closer, it felt good to tell someone all this. "It was as if a veil was lifted and I could see the entire world for the first time. I realized that no one has ever liked me for who I was, they only cared about my name and money."

He went on to tell her how his mother only cared about possessions and money, how the two people he had thought were his best friends were just mindless goons that would do anything he ordered them to do. Everyone in his house at school was obsessed with being better than everyone else and looked to him as the leader of the house.

"I understand, I remember being picked on by the Slytherins when I went to Hogwarts. I was in Ravenclaw." She told him, sticking to her made up identity. "They would do anything to be on top, even if they had to bribe or cheat their way there."

"That is how we were all raised, and I was the worst one of them all. I had my father buy my way on to the Quidditch team so I could try and show up my nemesis Harry Potter." Draco told her.

"Why don't you get along with Harry?" She asked, "He is always so nice to everyone."

"He is, he has everything I don't have, I guess that's why I'm always rude to him. I was even worse to Hermoine and Ron." He told her looking down, he knew that she probably already knew this since she had been sitting with them at dinner the other night. "I guess I am jealous that his friends would do anything for him, and he's a Gryffindor who always has to play hero."

"They are nice people," She said playing with his silver hair as they danced, she was surprised how fine and silky it was. "They were very kind to me when I was dating Remus."

"May I ask why you were dating someone old enough to be your father? You are a beautiful and smart woman; surely there are plenty of men who want you." Draco said.

"Remus was so kind and gentile, I met him at Flourish and Blots and we started talking. We went to lunch and then dinner; he was a very nice guy. I can't believe he would lie to me." She said shaking her head like it was a horrible thing. "How did you know about him?"

"He was my defense against the dark arts professor for a year; he resigned when the school found out." Draco told her, enjoying the way she played with his hair. He liked the way her light robes flowed around her while they danced and how he could hold an intelligent conversation with her. All the girls he had ever dated were only good as trophies; he had hated it when they talked.

"Draco," she said, "Could we take a break from dancing, as much as I enjoy it; my feet are starting to tire."

"Let's go sit on the veranda and have a cup of tea," he said leading her out the large glass doors to a balcony overlooking luscious flower gardens.

"This is beautiful," Tonks said sipping her tea and admiring the gardens.

"They pale in comparison with your beauty," Draco said turning on the charm, he wasn't going to let her go without getting at least a goodnight kiss. He smiled as she placed her hand on his arm. "When will I see you next?" He asked. Tonks smiled at how easily she was reeling him in, she would have to be careful so he wouldn't expect anything other than a few polite kisses. She loved Remus, and as much as the Order would benefit from Malfoy's information, she would not betray him.

"When would you like to see me again?" She giggled, oh how she hated girls who did that!

"How about in the morning when I wake up next to you?" Draco said with his trademark Malfoy smirk.

"I see you haven't completely changed then Mr. Malfoy, or you would have realized that I am not that kind of girl." She said taking her hand from his arm. Draco realized that he had made an ass out of himself and apologized.

"Amanda, I am sorry. I slip back to being a jerk so easily, I am trying to change. Let me make it up to you with dinner at Le Wiz tomorrow evening." He said kissing her hand like he did the night he met her.

"I would like that," She said as they stood to walk to the front door. "I'll be waiting for you at 7 pm again." They walked to the carriage, she waited for Draco to open the door for her, when he didn't she turned to him.

"May I kiss you goodnight?" He asked, almost shyly. She had never heard a Malfoy or a Black for that matter act so shy, perhaps he was telling the truth.

She gave him a peck on the cheek, "I had a nice time," she said as he helped her into the carriage. She sighed as the carriage pulled away; she hadn't expected the night to go like that. Draco practically spilled his soul to her. She felt bad for deceiving him, but she also remembered the stories Harry and Ron had told her about him, even Remus had nothing good to say about him and he could get along with anyone.

When she had locked the door to her room at the Leaky Caldron, she called out, "You can come out now. I know you're here." She smiled as Remus took off the invisibility cloak. "I knew it would be you." She said embracing him.

"I was so worried when he took you to the manor; I thought we were found out for sure." He said not letting go of her.

"We ate dinner and danced. He spilled his heart out to me. It seems his family has never treated him right and he was most relieved when his father was arrested. He actually told me he hated how he acted and how he had never thought of living life other than how his father had raised him." She told Remus, recounting her evening.

"Did you have a good time?" Remus said, trying not to show his hurt that she enjoyed her time with another man.

"I was intrigued, the manor was magnificent." She said noticing the hurt look on his face and smiling, "But you know I would have rather been with you." He pulled her into a deep and passionate kiss. He wanted her to know how much he cared.

"You look breathtaking tonight," he told her as they held each other close. "The up side of this whole thing is your having this room here, I was afraid we would never have any time alone until the school year started."

"So, Mr. Lupin, what do you do when you've got a woman who is crazy about you alone in a hotel room?" Tonks asked, curious as to where exactly they were in their relationship.

"I'm not sure," He said kissing her again, "I've never had a real relationship before." He told her looking at his feet. There, he had told her his secret, he had never been with a woman before. He was too afraid he would hurt them. Malfoy had been wrong; the full moon wasn't until next week, so he wasn't a danger to her until then.

Tonks smiled and morphed into her real self, "I've never been in a good relationship before. I tried dating, but most men only wanted sex, they never got to know me." She told him, looking down, "I've neverâ I've never" she started to say blushing a violent shade of red, "I've never been with a man before." She said barely over a whisper. She looked up to see Remus smiling.

"I guess we are both beginners then," He told her, taking his hand in hers. "We'll just have to figure it out when the time is right." He stroked her face with his other hand; he loved how she was so shy around him. "I better get going; I need to make sure Harry is behaving himself."

Tonks laughed, "I'm sure Harry is fine, he can't get into too much trouble locked up at home. I still can't believe you're a dad now."

"Do you know what he said to me right after we finished signing the papers? He told me I needed to find him a mum!" Remus said shaking his head as she laughed.

"What did you say?" She asked smiling.

"Well as soon as he said that, he told me that he thought you were a nice girl." He told her, "Then I might have said something about being old enough to be your father." Remus said looking at his feet; he didn't want to see the disappointed look on her face.

Tonks laughed, "Harry is definitely observant, he must have figured out that I had a crush on you. And you are not old enough to be my father; you are only 8 years older than me." They talked for a while longer until Remus apparated home, leaving her with a nice long kiss. She sank down onto her bed and had happy dreams of her and Remus' future together and the day they wouldn't have to hide their relationship.

Chapter 11: The Malfoy Scheme

Tonks was eating lunch at her favorite bistro the next day when she ran into Malfoy. She wondered if he was looking for her. "Draco!" She called over to him as he entered the café. He smiled when he saw her and sauntered over to her.

"Good afternoon Amanda, this is a welcome surprise." He told her, pretending he would have normally come into the restaurant if he had not seen her through the window. They chatted while she finished her lunch. She noticed he looked like he wanted to ask her something.

"Is there something bothering you Draco?" She asked in her sweetest voice.

"Are you sure you want to see me? I'm just concerned you may still have feelings for Lupin." He said, he had never felt so exposed as when he was with her. She made him want to be a different person.

"I don't want to see anyone who lies to me." She said truthfully, "We were over the moment he decided to lie. Besides, I enjoy your company."

"Alright then, I was just making sure I wasn't pressuring you into anything. I have a tendency to get my way." He said smiling at her. "Well, I will see you tonight, have a pleasant day." He kissed her hand and walked out of the restaurant towards the Quidditch supply store.

Tonks finished her lunch and headed to her room to apparate to headquarters, she had an idea of how to get Draco to trust her even more. She walked into the kitchen and smiled when she saw Harry and Remus, they were the two she needed to see.

"Good day Amanda," Remus said in his most professional voice, making Harry laugh. "Is there something we can help you with?"

Tonks chuckled, there was a lot more to Remus than most people gave him credit for. He was incredibly funny if given the chance. "Yes, I need you and Harry to go out to dinner at Le Wiz tonight. I ran into Draco this afternoon and he was concerned that you and I still might have something going on. I thought if we staged a little confrontation it might help me get in better with him."

"Draco Malfoy concerned about not getting something he wants, I wouldn't miss this for the world." Harry said with an almost wicked grin on his face. They made all the arrangements, and discussed how the conversation would go so as not to foul things up. "I'll go watch the door to give you two a minute, if you hear me talking you better break it up." He said walking to the door with a wink.

"You know I can't kiss that face," Remus joked watching her morph into her hot pink hairdo and face she used when hanging out with her friends. He kissed her and told her that he would be waiting for her again after her date.

"You are an amazing man Remus Lupin, how did I get so lucky?" Tonks said kissing him again as they heard Harry say good afternoon to Ginny. They broke away and Tonks turned back into Amanda before apparating back to her hotel room.

There was someone knocking on her door when she got back. She went and opened the door to find Tom the innkeeper with a package in his hand. "Miss Theodore, this was sent over with a note for you." He handed her the parcel and bowed his way out. She laughed at how different he would act if he knew it was her. He had seen Malfoy escort her to dinner last night and had been getting even better service since. People definitely catered to the rich.

Inside the package was a gorgeous deep green silk gown, it had long arms and a flowing skirt. It was detailed in silver beading and had a layer of silver satin underneath the silk. The bodice was fitted and tied in the back almost corset style. There was a silver necklace with a pendant in the shape of a dragon with emerald eyes. As soon as she saw the pendant she knew the dress was from Malfoy. She finally noticed a card hidden in the folds of fabric.

My Dearest Amanda,

I would be honored if you would wear this gown to dinner tonight. You are the most beautiful woman in the city and therefore you should have a gown to match. I look forward to our evening together.

Until Tonight,

Draco Malfoy

She smile and held the dress up to her, the silver beading sparkled like diamonds. She laughed at his choice of Slytherin colors, but thought it fitting of him. He had told her his favorite color was green. She left her hair down in soft curls, pulling the sides away from her face with a silver hair clip she had purchased to go with her silver robes. She would not need robes with the gown Draco had bought her, with the way the arms we cut, it almost looked like a cross between robes and a dress. She slipped into her silver shoes and admired herself in the mirror again. She wondered what Remus would think of her dress and hoped the planned altercation would go well. She knew she only needed to give Draco another little push and he would be hooked.

She smiled at the looks of longing on the men's faces when she entered the bar. "You look lovely this evening Miss Theodore, shall I order you a carriage?" Tom asked.

"No thank you Tom, I'm waiting for someone." She said smiling; it was fun playing Amanda, the men were putty in her hands. She hadn't even sat down when Draco entered. He was in black again. He looked stunningly handsome; she realized they must look quite the pair in their expensive clothes and good looks.

"Good evening Amanda." Draco said offering her his arm. "You look absolutely stunning." He said leading her to the carriage.

"Thank you Draco, you look dashing yourself." She said as they got into the carriage.

"I have never seen a woman look so beautiful." He said kissing her hand. "I am glad you wore the dress I sent to you."

"The gown is lovely Draco," Tonks said purring his name, she knew he was hooked. His eyes were smoldering with desire when she had purred his name. He helped her out of the carriage and into the restaurant.

"Mr. Malfoy, right this way," the Maitre D said leading him to the same table in the back of the restaurant that he was sitting at last time She watched Draco's face as he noticed Remus and Harry glaring in his direction. He got his trademark smirk on his face and put his arm around her shoulder to show them they were here together.

Once they ordered she excused herself to the powder room, careful to take the route that brought her past Remus' table. She took a deep breath and said, "Good evening Remus, Harry." She acted like she was about to walk off and on cue, Remus placed his hand on her arm.

"You look beautiful Amanda," Remus said, "I'm so very sorry for not telling you the truth." He made sure he said it loud enough for Draco to hear. Draco had gotten up and was making his way over the minute Remus touched her. "Please, can we give this another shot? I never meant to deceive you, I was only afraid you would leave me."

"I'm sorry Remus, whatever chance we had at a relationship died when you decided to lie to me. We are over." She said firmly. "Now if you will excuse me I must get back to my date."

"How could you go out with Malfoy?" Harry said, also on cue, with a sneer on his face. "He is only with you for your looks!" Malfoy came up next to Tonks.

"Is there a problem here Amanda?" He asked sending an icy look at Remus and Harry, "These men are not bothering you are they? I can have them removed from the restaurant."

"I'm fine Draco, thank you." She said smiling at him and taking his hand in hers. "Remus was just expressing his regret in lying to me."

"Please Amanda," Remus said in an almost begging tone, "Don't throw away what we had for, for him." He said gesturing to Malfoy.

"Draco has been a proper gentleman; he treats me with respect and is honest. He is also honest. There is nothing left for us Remus, there never will be." She said starting to turn away.

"Malfoy being honest? He is only using you, just like all the women he's ever dated!" Harry said, Tonks thought he should be an actor, he had perfect timing with all his lines and the performance was so convincing.

"What would you know about women Potter? I don't see you here with anyone other than the wolf." Malfoy sneered. Tonks gave him a squeeze on the arm, reminding him to play nice. "What are you doing here anyway; I thought you lived with muggles during the summer."

"Harry lives with me now; I adopted him as my son." Remus told Draco smiling at the look on his face, he had no scathing comeback for that comment.

"Let's go enjoy our evening Draco," Tonks said pulling him away before they ran out of lines they had rehearsed. "I do not want them to spoil our night." Draco grinned at Remus and led her away. He had gotten the girl and Potter and the werewolf were upset, this was turning into a good night and it had barely started.

They talked late into the evening. Draco seemed to open up even more after their run in with Remus. Tonks was glad her idea had worked without any curses being thrown. "May I walk you back to the hotel?" Malfoy said as they left the restaurant. "It is such a nice evening; I don't want it to end yet."

"I would enjoy that." She said smiling and looking at him through her eyelashes in a sexy way. She held his arm and he had his hand over hers on the way back. They looked up at the stars and he pointed out a few constellations. "I didn't know you enjoyed Astronomy so much." She said smiling.

"Yes, in fact I got the highest score on my OWL in it, it is one of the classes I actually enjoy attending." He told her as they reached the door to the inn. He walked her up to her door. "May I come in for a glass of tea?" He asked smiling seductively.

She showed him into her room, hoping that Remus was securely under the invisibility cloak. "You make me want to be a better wizard Amanda." Draco told her taking her hand and they sat on the settee. "I was thinking of writing to Professor Dumbledore to see if I could be resorted. I don't think I want to be a Slytherin anymore." Tonks looked at him unbelieving; his entire family had been in Slytherin.

"I don't understand Draco, why would you want that?" She asked.

"I don't want to become a Death Eater, I'm afraid if I stay in Slytherin, somehow I'll be forced into becoming one. I hate the Dark Lord; he is a vile and repulsive man. Don't tell anyone, but I actually hope that Potter can defeat him." Draco said, he didn't understand how he felt so comfortable telling his deepest secrets to this woman he had just met.

Tonks just sat there stunned; Draco Malfoy didn't want to join Voldemort? This was huge news. "Won't the Slytherins come after you if you deserted them?" Tonks said trying to see if he was just pulling her leg.

"Better them, than all the Death Eaters when I refuse to take the mark." He said shuddering, "Although they'll probably want to kill me either way."

"You should talk with Professor Dumbledore, maybe there is something he can do." Tonks told him, if he went to Dumbledore he could tell if Malfoy was telling the truth.

"Do you think he would believe me after all the horrible things I've done to boy wonder and his followers?" Draco asked miserably, when he saw her confused face he said, "Sorry, that's just one of my names for Potter and his friends."

Tonks smiled at how even the enemy thought of Harry as Wonder Boy. "Dumbledore is a great wizard, he will listen to you. He cares about all his students' well being, I'm sure that is still the case." She said smiling as she finished her tea.

"School starts again in a couple weeks; I'll talk to him when I get there." Draco said taking her hand, "Thank you for listening to me; I've never had anyone listen to me like this before. You are a very special woman." He leaned toward he like he was about to kiss her, Tonks was thinking fast.

"Draco, what happens between us when you go back to school?" It was the only question she could come up with to keep him from kissing her, she wasn't sure that Remus would be able to refrain from hexing him.

"I will write to you as often as I can and I'll see you on holidays. I can even tell you when our Hogsmead weekends are and we can meet in the Three Broomsticks." Draco said smiling, "I like what we have started and don't want it to end just because I'm going to school."

Tonks stood and put their cups on the tray by the door. She knew Draco was going to kiss her and she couldn't see a way around it. "I had a wonderful evening Draco." She said standing by the door to signal it was time for him to leave.

"So did I Amanda. I would love to see you again." He smiled taking both her hands in his. "How about a picnic lunch on Monday afternoon?"

Tonks had to work on Monday, "I have an appointment on Monday, how about a rain check for Tuesday?" She said smiling.

"Sounds wonderful. Do you ride horses? I was thinking we could ride out to a lake near my manor and lunch there. How about I pick you up at 11 am?" Draco asked.

"I would enjoy that, I'll see you then." She said reaching for the door. Draco wasn't going to leave without getting a kiss this time. He leaned in and pressed his lips against hers. He smiled and left. He shook his head when he got to the landing; there had been absolutely no spark when he kissed her. He wondered if he was just tired or if there really was no chemistry between them. It would be a shame, she was so beautiful and he enjoyed her company immensely.

Tonks turned around after locking the door, waiting for Remus to show himself. He slowly emerged from the corner, looking down. "I know you didn't want to kiss him, I just didn't realize how much I would hate watching it happen." He told her as she fell into his arms. The kiss with Draco had been like kissing her father, there was no feeling in it. "I can't believe all the things he said, if I hadn't been listening with my own ears, I never would have believed you."

"I just hope that he talks to Dumbledore about it, he would make a good ally, and we need someone keeping tabs on the Slytherins." Tonks said making Remus turn around as she got ready for bed. He tucked her in and she giggled, "After everyone joking that you're old enough to be my father you tuck me into be like I'm your child!"

"Yes, but most fathers don't do this do they?" He asked crawling under the covers with her and wrapping her in his arms. He just held her until she fell asleep. She felt so safe in his arms, not that she couldn't take care of herself, but she felt safe none the less.

Harry was sitting in the drawing room waiting for Ginny when Remus came home. "What are you doing up so late?" Remus asked him.

"I'm just reading," Harry said trying to sound innocent. Showing Remus the defense against the dark arts book he was holding. Harry thought he was about to buy the story when the door opened on its own. Remus smiled at the forced look of calm on Harry's face. Anyone who didn't know him well wouldn't have noticed the panicky expression he was trying to hide.

Remus just chuckled and headed for the door, "Good night Harry, don't stay up to late." Then speaking to mid air he added, "I wouldn't want your mother to find you out of bed Ginny." He just smiled again and winked at Harry before closing the door.

Harry just smiled, "He was a Marauder you know," he said to the invisible Ginny and they headed into his secret room for a bit of snogging.

Ginny giggled, "You're lucky he's on our side Harry. I almost had a heart attack when I opened the door and he was in here!"

"Don't worry Gin, he won't say anything. I'm keeping a secret for him too. We're even now." Harry said pulling her into his arms.

"I'm going to have a talk with my parents and brothers before we go back to school. I'm going to tell them that I'm old enough to start dating and get the whole sex talk out of the way. I'm hoping that my parents will help me make Ron understand that I am allowed to like a boy." Ginny giggled as she snuggled into Harry's arms.

"At least we'll know where they stand in case we get caught, I'll now if I need to put myself into protective custody or just try and hide." Harry said smiling, "You know that Ron will still be overprotective even if your parents are ok with you starting to date. What did they say about you and Michael last year?"

"I didn't tell them and I had to give Ron 20 of my chocolate frog cards to keep him quiet!" Ginny said. "But if Dumbledore thinks it's a good idea to keep it secret, I think we should wait, even if they are ok with it. As soon as they know, we won't be able to keep it a secret from the whole school."

"That's why I love you Gin, you are just so smart," Harry said kissing her forehead as they held each other on the couch.

"Where were you Harry?" Ron asked sleepily when Harry crawled into bed.

"I was just reading. I didn't want to wake you." He told his friend, he hated lying to Ron, but it was better than Ron hating him for toughing his little sister.

The next morning Tonks showed up and related everything Malfoy had told her from last night. She thanked Harry and Remus for their good acting. "Don't mention it, it's not a big stretch for me to insult Malfoy." Harry said as all his friends laughed. She told them that she had talked with Dumbledore that morning and he didn't think they needed an Order meeting yet; they would wait until after their next date.

Tonks was wearing her silver pants suit for the picnic. It had flowing silver pants and a slightly revealing silver tunic top with short flutter sleeves. She really liked the silver robes she had bought; they had an almost iridescent shine to them. She was wearing a pair of black lace up boots and had her hair pulled back into a loose bun. She would have rather worn jeans, but she didn't think Malfoy would be so she stuck with the silver pants.

"You look beautiful every time I see you," He told her in the carriage. She had been right; he was wearing a pair of black slacks and a tight fitting black shirt that showed off his surprisingly muscular chest.

They arrived at the Malfoy stables to find two horses already saddled and waiting for them, the larger one, a pure black stallion, had a picnic basket attached behind the saddle. The one she determined was her horse was also black, but it had white feet and a white patch on its face. They were very grand steeds. Tonks loved the feeling of her robes billowing out behind her as they galloped along the path. Malfoy was impressed with her control of the animal. They slowed down when they reached a wooded area and they took the path at a leisurely rate. The trees opened up to reveal a stunning little lake. Tonks thought it was a very romantic spot and she realized why he had picked it.

"I didn't think you could impress me even more, and then you got on the horse and showed me an entire other side of you." He told her helping her down from the horse. He put his hands on her hips and lifted her easily from the saddle; she was surprised at his strength. He held on to her for a few moments enjoying being close to her. He took his robes off, it was too hot a day for long black robes and set out the blanket and picnic basket. Tonks took her robes off too, enjoying the feel of the sun on her skin.

"I love riding, the feel of the wind in my face, it reminds me of flying." She said wistfully, she loved to fly but with being an auror and Order assignments she hadn't had much time to enjoy herself.

"I love to fly, I feel the most alive when I'm in the air." Draco told her, "I have a Nimbus 2001, what kind of broom do you have?"

"I only have a comet 260, but it does the job. I asked Harry to let me fly his Firebolt, but it was confiscated last year." Tonks said sadly, not even realizing she had mentioned Harry.

"So you really get along with him?" Draco asked, the way she had mentioned Harry it was as if he was an old friend.

"Yeah, he's a good guy. I think you two could get along if you put your differences behind you." She told him smiling.

Draco walked up and wrapped his arms around her, "You make even the most ridiculous things seem simple." He told her staring deep into her eyes. "It will take a lot for Potter and I to get past our differences."

"You could start by not calling Hermione a mud-blood and insulting Ron's family all the time. If you make the first move it will be a big step in showing that you have changed." Tonks said trying to pretend she was comfortable with his embrace. Draco leaned in and kissed her again. Just like last time there was no spark.

"Let's eat," Draco said pulling away, she was an amazing woman but it was like kissing his mother. They talked at length during the meal and then rode around on the horses for a few hours. Draco smiled; he had never spent so much time with a woman and shared nothing but two innocent little kisses. He wondered if she felt anything when they kissed. He held her hand and led her into the gardens of the manor to pick her some flowers.

"I wrote to Dumbledore this morning," Draco told her, "I told him I wanted to meet with him before school started."

"I'm happy for you, I'm sure you'll realize what a great guy he is then," he had told her how his father had always said what a crazy old fool Dumbledore was.

"You're the first real friend I've ever had." Draco said looking at her for her reaction. "I know things are going to be hard for us when I go back to school, but I don't want to loose this friendship, it means a lot to me."

"I'm glad we are friends as well," Tonks said, surprised by the truthfulness of the statement, "I'm sure we'll keep in touch." Draco plucked her a yellow rose from the garden and put it in her hair.

"I had a fun afternoon. I hope I can take you to dinner again later this week." He told her smiling, "Maybe we can go dancing at the new club."

Tonks liked dancing; being at a crowded club would be a good way to keep him from kissing her. He had told her that Malfoys did not approve of public displays of affection. "Sure, how about Friday night, it can be our last night out before you have to go back to school."

"I'll pick you up at 6 pm and we can grab a bite to eat and then go to the club." He told her, thinking he couldn't wait to see what she would wear to go dancing. He helped her into the carriage with a peck on the cheek. She was glad he hadn't kissed her again; maybe he could feel the lack of chemistry between them as well.

Chapter 12: Tonks Surprise

Tonks went back to Headquarters smiling; she wanted to see Remus before he locked himself in the basement. Snape had come over last night and was teaching Ginny how to brew the Wolfsbane potion, so at least he wouldn't be dangerous. He still locked himself away just in case; his worst fear was biting someone he loved.

"How are you feeling?" She asked as she saw him looking like a ghost. She hated that he had to go through this pain every month. "Did you get the basement remodeled to your liking?" Remus nodded, he had had a few mattresses placed on the floor for him to curl up on as well as backup protection installed. There was now a large cage that locked once he was inside of it. That way if the worst should happen, even if someone was to open the door to the basement, they would still be safe from him.

"Come on, let's get you down there before you pass out and I have to carry you," Tonks told him, pulling him from his chair.

She helped him into the caged room and sat him on one of the mattresses. It really was rather cozy she guessed for a wolf. He even had a light switch so he could turn the lights on and off with his snout. She was just about to kiss him when she heard footsteps on the stairs. Harry and Ginny were coming down. Ginny had his wolfsbane potion with her. "Thanks Ginny." Remus croaked out downing the disgusting tasting potion.

"It's a good thing Gin is so good at potions, that is a very complicated thing to brew. I've never even heard of half the ingredients, Mr. Weasley said he had to go to three different stores to find them all. We should have enough for a few years now though, just in case." Harry said trying to make conversation. He hated to see Remus looking so frail, now he understood why his Dad and Sirius had wanted to become animagi to keep him company.

"You better go upstairs now; it's getting close to sunset." Remus told them. Harry winked at him as he pulled Ginny up the stairs so Tonks and he could have a private moment.

"Let me stay with you tonight." Tonks asked pulling him into a hug. "I know you think it's dangerous, but I'll be outside the cage. I just don't want you to have to go through this alone anymore."

"I couldn't live with myself if something were to happen to you." Remus told her as she kissed him and locked him into the cage. The sun was almost set. "Please, if I bit you I would die inside."

"Good night love," She said touching his hand through the cage before going upstairs. She was going to stay with him wither he wanted it or not.

"Harry," Tonks said, "Tell everyone that I've gone back to the inn for the night."

Harry smiled at her; he could tell she had no intention of going back to the hotel. He had been reading a book he had found about Aurors (from a dark wizard perspective but still interesting) and it said that most of them were animagi. The ministry did not register them so they could spy on dark wizards easier. "So what animal do you turn into?" He asked her quietly so no one could overhear.

Tonks smiled, she knew Harry was perceptive, but she didn't think her plan was that obvious. "That's something you don't need to know yet Harry, I'll save it for when you're an auror too." She smiled, kissed him on the cheek and went back down into the basement. Harry locked the door behind her.

She could hear Remus transforming, he was crying out in pain. She hurried down the stairs and transformed into her animagi form. She was a chameleon; she thought it was fitting for a metamorphmagi. It seemed she could never keep one appearance. She slipped in between the fencing and the door to the cage Remus was in. She could tell he recognized her scent, even though she was a lizard, she still smelled like herself.

She walked over to the bed he was lying on. He pulled her close using one of his paws. He was surprisingly gentle considering he was in wolf form. They couldn't communicate with each other but he was comforted by her presence none the less. If he still had any doubts about their relationship, they were gone now. Not only was she not scared of him, she was lying next to him while he was transformed. He never thought anyone else would care about him enough to do that, he knew wherever James and Sirius were they were happy that he had finally found someone to love and who loved him.

Harry was sitting in the drawing room reading another defense against the dark arts book; he had a lot of spells he wanted to try when he got back to school. He felt something nuzzle his leg and looked down to find Ginny's kitty. "Hello there girl," he said picking her up and petting her. "Do you like my house? Caught any mice lately?" Harry thought she was her shake her head, "No mice huh, too bad, I'm sure there will be some at Hogwarts for you to chase." He watched her curl up in his lap and continued reading.

"Lightning? Are you in here girl?" Ginny asked opening the door. She smiled when she saw her kitten asleep in Harry's lap. "You know, I think she just might like you better than me." She joked to him.

"That's because she finds me as irresistible as you do." Harry teased, "So you found a name for her, Lightning does seems appropriate."

"She seemed to like it, she is very smart, I can tell she understands everything I say to her." Ginny told him sitting next to him and pulling out a book Snape had lent her on the Wolfsbane potion. "You should have seen Professor Snape when I made the potion correctly on my first try, he didn't know if he should be mad or praise his own teaching. He even told me I was the first Gryffindor who was ever any good at potions. I almost passed out; I'd never heard him compliment anyone other than the Slytherins."

"He seems different since Remus told him about how I was raised. He was even civil to me without spitting out my name like it was poisonous. But I'm sure he'll be right back to being Snape the evil git as soon as school starts up, he wouldn't want to ruin his reputation by treating me nicely." Harry said as Ron and Hermoine walked in. Hermoine smiled at Ginny and Harry on the couch, it was even cuter to see Ginny's cat sound asleep in his lap.

The four of them played exploding snap the rest of the night before heading to bed. Ginny winked at Harry on her way out to tell him she would see him soon. Lightning was still asleep in his lap. Neither one of them noticed that Hermoine saw the wink and was going to keep a close eye on Ginny tonight. She knew there was something going on between them and she was determined to find out what.

Ginny slipped on her invisibility cloak and went to the drawing room; Hermoine jumped up and followed her, also wearing an invisibility cloak. Ginny opened the door of the room to find Harry asleep on the couch, with Lightning still sound asleep on his lap. She didn't notice that the door opened and shut again, seemingly on its own. Hermoine watched with a smile as Ginny leaned down and kissed Harry on the lips. She tried to suppress a giggle as Harry turned to the other side, mumbling Ginny's name. He was obviously dreaming about her. Ginny kissed him again, watching him smile as he opened his eyes to her.

"I was dreaming about you," he said yawning. Then he surprised Hermoine by kissing her full on the mouth. "We were dancing in the Great Hall and Ron told me he was glad we were together."

"We'll just have to wait for a while, I'm sure my family will be ok with us being together when I'm older. They just still think of me as a little girl and don't realize that I'm old enough to fall in love." Ginny said picking her cat up off his lap.

Harry smiled and stood up to wrap her in his arms, "I love you Gin, and someday we'll be able to tell everyone." Harry turned his head; he thought he heard someone sniffling. Hermoine realized too late that she was crying and that she had just sniffled, she was sure Harry would hear it. Sure enough he started walking toward her; she decided it was best to just come clean so she pulled off the cloak with a guilty look on her face.

"It's not what it looks like Hermoine," Ginny said quickly, "I was just coming to find Lightning." She hoped Hermoine wasn't going to tell Ron.

"It's ok Gin, I can't lie to her face," Harry said pulling her close. "We're together 'Moine, but you know how the Weasleys will react, so we are hiding our feelings."

Hermoine smiled, she was glad that Harry didn't try and lie when it was obvious what was going on. "It's ok, I won't tell anyone. I'm happy for you two; I knew there was something up between you two, that's why I followed you Ginny. I'm sorry I interrupted your little meeting," Hermoine giggled. Harry let go of Ginny and gave Hermoine a hug, thanking her for being such a good friend. Ron walked in just then, Harry was glad he wasn't still holding Gin. He stopped hugging Hermoine and turned to Ron.

"I was wondering where you went again mate." Ron said sleepily, looking suspiciously at Hermoine. He was afraid Harry and Hermoine were together behind his back. Harry had said he liked someone and that he was sure she would get along with Ginny. He had told Harry his feelings for Hermoine; he hoped Harry didn't have them too. "So what's going on, why is everyone up?" He asked.

"I was in here reading and the girls just came in to find Gin's cat." Harry told him, part of it was the truth. Lightning meowed and looked at Harry with a "Yeah right" expression. "I was just saying good night when you walked in."

Harry didn't even chance a glance back at Gin before he followed Ron back to their room. Ron sat on his bed and looked seriously at Harry. Harry was afraid Ron had figured things out. "Is there something going on between you and Hermoine?"

Harry was relieved, if he was worried about Hermoine, there was no way he would suspect him and Ginny. "Of course not Ron, I know you fancy her, I would never go behind your back like that and take your girl." Harry said pretending to be hurt by the accusation.

"It's just that, well when I saw you hugging I thought maybe." Ron said feeling stupid for thinking Harry would do that to him. "You had said that you liked someone, I thought it might have been her."

"Hermoine will only ever be my friend; she is like a sister to me. I do like someone, but it's not her." He told his best friend, "If you would just hurry up and ask her out, you wouldn't have to worry about it."

"I will, as soon as I get the courage. Girls are so hard to understand, how will I know when the right time to ask her is?" Ron asked head in his hands.

"Just ask her sometime you two are alone." Harry suggested.

"What do I say; I know I'm going to sound like a prat." Ron told him sadly.

"Don't say anything then," Harry told him, enjoying the confused look on Ron's face. "Just kiss her and see what she does." Ron looked at him like he was insane.

"Are you crazy? If I don't have the guts to talk to her to ask her out, how do you think I'd be brave enough to just kiss her?" Ron said shaking his head.

"You do realize that you were sorted into Gryffindor right? We are the brave ones, but yet you still see Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs with girlfriends, so it can't take that much courage." Harry told him.

"Sure I'm brave when it comes to spells and monsters but when it comes to girls and spiders, my courage is wasted." Ron told him getting under the covers to sleep.

The girls were giggling in their room after listening to the boys' conversation. "I love extendable ears; they have to be one of Fred and George's best inventions!" Ginny laughed. "If you want to go out with Ron any time this century you might have to take matters into your own hands."

"I'll try and get us alone in a romantic setting and see if he asks me before I take matters into my own hands." Hermoine told her, "Not all guys are as open with their feelings as Harry."

"I still can't believe he told me he loves me." Ginny said in a dreamy voice, "At the end of 3rd year I finally realized that he would never want me and tried to forget my feelings, I was doing well until he said all those nice things about me."

"I was as surprised as you were, you should have seen Ron's face. He was like 'did Harry just call my sister amazing and then list off about a 100 things about her and he even said she was pretty' he looked so funny like a cross between anger and shock and happiness."

"That was why I decided to kiss him on his birthday. I just kissed him and walked out saying 'Happy birthday Harry' I knew that if he didn't like me back he could just ignore the whole thing as something I did since it was his birthday." Ginny told her.

"So how did it all happen?" Hermoine asked, they stayed up late that night talking about how her and Harry got together and how hard it was keeping it secret. Ginny also told her that both Remus and Dumbledore knew.

Remus woke the next morning stiff and sore as usual after a transformation, but happier than he had been in years. He nudged the chameleon next to him and said, "Wake up sleepy head, you can be a person again now." He smiled as Tonks transformed back into her real self then straight to her pink hair everyday body. "Good morning beautiful." Remus said kidding her gently. He was worn out from the transformation, but he wanted her to know how much he appreciated the company.

Tonks smiled and snuggled up against his body, trying to get back to sleep. She had never spent an entire night in the arms of a man before, granted she was a chameleon and he was a wolf, but it still felt amazing. "I told you I wasn't scared of you, do you believe me now? I would have slept next to you as myself if I knew you wouldn't have been angry with me."

"It's been a long time since my transformation was so bearable, since James was alive." Remus said sadly. "You are amazing. I love you." He whispered. She smiled, she loved him too, but it felt so great to know he felt the same. "I always thought you were incredible, but I knew you would never want an old man like me."

"I was afraid you wouldn't want me because of my wild hair and klutzy personality. I was afraid I'd end up with one of the twins when you found someone you could really love." Tonks told him kissing him again and helping him from the mattress.

"We really are quite the pair aren't we," Remus said laughing.

"Yes, we were meant for each other, all our crazy idiosyncrasies and everything." She told him, "I just can't wait till we can tell everyone. I'm sure my assignment with Malfoy will be over soon and we won't have to hide anymore."

"I think it's funny that your anamagi form is a chameleon, do you ever keep your appearance in any form?" He joked with her as she helped him up the stairs. "It was interesting watching you blend in with my fur."

They reached the top of the stairs and Tonks took out her wand on unlocked the door. They headed in to breakfast. Remus was always starving after a transformation. He ate like he hadn't been fed in a week. Harry smiled at him, "Who dad, slow down you're going to explode!"

Tonks smiled and hugged Harry as everyone else looked at him funny, Remus had stopped mid bite. Had Harry just called him dad? He had never expected Harry to call him that, he knew Harry missed and loved James and didn't think he would ever be comfortable calling him that.

"What?" Harry asked everyone, not realizing what he had called Remus. Tonks told him and he smiled at Remus. Who also smiled then continued eating. The rest of the morning was uneventful, the Mrs. Weasley was grocery shopping, Remus was sleeping and Tonks, Mr. Weasley, Bill and the twins had to go into work. The election for Minister of Magic was Friday and Mr. Weasley was spending a lot more time at the office. Lots of people were going to vote for him, Dumbledore had announced that he felt Arthur was the best man for the job, and everyone trusted his opinion.

The four of them spent the next few days going over their homework and making changes and additions to get the best grades possible. Harry was sure he did well on his defense against the dark arts essay with all the reading he had done over the summer. Hermoine didn't even have any suggestions on his potions work, which was a first. He was determined to show Snape that he deserved to be in his NEWT level class.

Friday morning they all went to the Ministry to be with Mr. Weasley for the elections. Charlie even came in from Romania. The three candidates and their families were all positioned in different areas of the atrium to field any questions the press or voters had. A journalist recognized Harry.

"It's Harry Potter!" He yelled and instantly there were cameras flashing, "Mr. Potter, who do you support for the next Minister of Magic?"

"I give my full support to Arthur Weasley. He is a wonderful man and will do great things for the Wizarding community." Harry told them all, now that everyone knew Voldemort was back, they were treating him like a hero again and hanging off his every word. The Weasleys all grinned at Harry, they knew if the community knew both Harry and Dumbledore supported Mr. Weasley he had a good shot of winning the election.

Just then Professor Dumbledore arrived and walked over to shake Arthur's hand. "I also give my full support to Arthur Weasley. I nominated him before the Wizegammot and believe he is the man to lead us to a brighter future."

The journalists ran off and within an hour there was a special addition of the Daily Prophet with a picture of Harry and Dumbledore standing on either side of Mr. Weasley. The article went on to say that Mr. Weasley had the support of the two most influential wizards of all time and the reporter himself was going to vote for him if he had that many supporters.

The elections ran smoothly, the poles were closed and the winner would be announced shortly after 8pm. Tonks had left earlier to get ready for her last date with Malfoy, but had kissed Arthur for good luck before leaving.

She decided to wear the revealing strappy black dress to the club, she wore her black heals and left her hair all the way down. She threw her black silk robes on over top the dress for diner and was only had about five minutes before Draco showed, he was always punctual. He could barely contain himself when he saw her dress. It was short and showed her cleavage. He knew he would be the envy of every man in the club.

They ate a quick dinner at her favorite bistro and made their way to the club. "You know I'm going to have a hard time keeping my hands off you." Draco smiled at her. "I'm going to have to beat the other men off you."

"I'll have to make sure the other women know you're with me, you look very nice tonight." Tonks said flirtingly. The bouncer let them right into the club without waiting in line like the rest of the crowd. Tonks shook her head, being a Malfoy made people bend over backwards to try and please.

The club looked a lot like a muggle dance club; she had been to a few with her cousins on her father's side who were muggles. There were bright multi-colored lights and a loud thumping music. Draco turned out to be a very good dancer. She had fun and almost forgot she was on assignment. He was a nice guy, even though he did seem to have a hard time keeping his hands off her. She supposed it was partially her fault for wearing such a revealing dress as well as the fact that they were dancing very close. She wondered if Remus would ever be seen in a place like this.

They danced for a while longer until the music stopped for an announcement. The owner of the club got up on the stage. "We have a new minister of magic, Mr. Arthur Weasley!" The crowd went wild clapping and cheering, Tonks along with them. Draco just shook his head; there would be no teasing the Weasleys now. They went from being poor and insignificant to being one of the most influential families in the Wizarding world, not to mention the Minister of Magic was a very well paying job.

"This is great!" Tonks said, hugging Draco in her excitement. She was so happy for the Weasleys; Arthur would be a great boss.

"If you say so," Draco said, less enthusiastic. He knew that Dumbledore supported Mr. Weasley, and Amanda kept telling him to trust him, so he would accept the new Minister, but he didn't have to be excited about it.

Back at the Ministry the Weasleys were all celebrating. Mr. Weasley had still not grasped the fact that his lifelong dream had come true, he was going to be Minister of Magic. A photographer was there and took a picture of all the Weasleys with Harry, Hermoine, Remus and Dumbledore. Harry paid the guy to send him a copy when he got back to school. Mrs. Weasley was crying she was so happy and Fred and George let of some of their fireworks to soar around the atrium. Bill and Charlie were laughing and patting their dad on the back. Mr. Weasley looked happy but still in shock. Ron had his arm around Hermoine almost jumping with joy. Ginny grabbed Harry, who picked her up and spun her around in the air. Nobody even seemed to care when Ginny kissed him full on the mouth before running up to hug Bill. Remus was shaking hands with Arthur telling him how he was going to be a great minister. Fred and George insisted that was true seeing as how he couldn't do any worse than Fudge.

The party went on late into the night. It seemed like almost every ministry employee turned up to congratulate their new minister. Even Snape showed up and shook Arthur's hand and offered his best. He thought he even saw Snape smile when Mrs. Weasley hugged him in her joy for her husband.

Harry was happy for the Weasleys, they deserved respect and would finally be appreciated in the wizarding community. Remus finally told them it was time to go back home, they had a big day tomorrow with the inauguration tomorrow evening. He promised he would watch the 'kids' as he escorted Ron, Harry, Hermoine, Ginny, Fred, George, Charlie and Bill back to headquarters. Charlie congratulated Harry on the nice transformation of his house and was told he could visit anytime, he was always welcome.

The older boys went up to their rooms to talk about the day's events. Ron pulled Harry aside to say he wanted some time alone with Hermoine. "Sure, I'll keep Ginny busy." Harry said smiling at his friend. "Now that your dad's minister you have more confidence huh?"

"I just figured if I screwed up I could blame it on the excitement," Ron said.

Harry grabbed Gin and lead her to their secret room, where he proceeded to snog her senseless. "You kissed me in front of your entire family and I had to stand there and not kiss you back." Harry fake pouted.

"I couldn't help myself, I was so happy I just did what I wanted to." Ginny giggled as she pulled Harry onto the sofa to snog some more. Harry finally pulled away out of breath.

"So do you think they are snogging yet?" He asked her, hoping Ron got over his fear and just went for it.

"They better be, Hermione's going to have to make the first move if Ron doesn't hurry is ass up!" Ginny said covering her mouth when she realized she had just told Harry that Hermoine liked Ron too. "Oops," She shrugged.

"I knew she wanted him already, I'm much more observant than she thinks, I knew she liked him in 4th year, same for Ron. It's surely taken them long enough," Harry said running his fingers through her hair. "I'm taking you shopping tomorrow to buy new dress robes for the ceremony." He said kissing her again.

"Ok, but I get to pick out your new robes." Ginny said, "I want them to match mine."

"You have me wrapped around your little finger Gin; I'll do anything you ask." Harry said looking deep into her brown eyes that were so full of sparkle.

"So if I tell you to take of all your clothes and run starkers around the house you will?" Ginny giggled at his shocked face.

"Don't you think it's a little early in our relationship to be thinking about me naked?" Harry asked with a smirk, enjoying the wide eyed look he got from her before she hit him with a couch pillow.

"Harry Potter you are insufferable, I'll have to punish you for that comment." She said standing up off the couch with a fake look of anger. "You'll have no more snogging tonight."

Harry just grinned mischievously at her and started tickling her and chasing her around the room until they were both so tired they collapsed on the couch. Harry pulled her close and she laid her head on his chest. "I think they've been alone long enough, shall we go spy on them?" He asked, knowing she was more devious than anyone gave her credit for. Her eyes sparkled with glee as they approached Ron and his door with their invisibility cloaks and extendable ears. There were no noises coming from the room, Harry looked at Ginny confused. She went to quickly check her room, but there was no sign of Hermoine. She came back and shrugged at Harry, they went back to listening.

"Do you think your family will be ok with us?" Hermoine asked, she had her head leaning against Ron and was very happy he had told her how he felt.

"Sure, why wouldn't they be, they were happy for Percy when he had a girlfriend at my age and he's an insufferable git." Ron said touching her hair.

"It's just that everyone is so concerned about Ginny possibly getting a boyfriend so I didn't know how they would react with us." She told him.

"That's because Ginny was dating someone who didn't deserve her, she needs someone who will protect her and take care of her and most of all get along with all her brothers. We don't just want her to date some boy, who will break her heart, she was already sad enough when Harry started dating Cho." Ron told her.

"Do you think Percy will come crawling back now that your dad is minister?" She asked. It was better not to dwell on the subject of Ginny liking Harry it could lead to ugly questions better left unanswered.

"I'm sure; I hope dad gives him a job mopping cells at Azkaban." Ron said fiercely, "its one thing to be loyal to your boss, but family comes first. I don't think I'll be able to forgive him after what he put mum through."

"What are you two doing?" Remus asked scaring the lights out of Harry and Ginny who looked guiltily at their feet. Remus picked up the dropped extendable ear and listened. "Spying on the new lovebirds huh?" He laughed and handed them back the ear end. "I'm going out Harry, I'll be back way past your bedtime, so be good you two." Harry knew that meant he was going to check on Tonks.

Malfoy was walking Tonks back to the carriage when they spotted two death eaters coming out of an alleyway. Tonks threw Draco against the carriage and pretended they were making out; Draco caught on and played along. Tonks already had her wand in hand and was ready to pounce at the opportune time.

"We were supposed to land in Knocturn Alley you idiot!" They heard one say as they passed the 'involved' couple. As soon as they were past them, Tonks turned and stunned both of them before they knew what happened. Draco was amazed as he watched her summon apparition proof binds and levitate their bodies.

"Draco, could you be a dear and wait back inside the club, I have to turn these idiots over to the authorities, any Death Eater stupid enough to wander around in plain sight in their uniform deserves to be put away." She said giving him a peck on the cheek before apparating to auror headquarters and handing them over to the Aurors on duty, who looked like Christmas had come early.

"Brilliant Tonks! Way to go." They told her.

"I'm on assignment undercover as Amanda Theodore; just remember to put that name in any report that may be seen by the public, or anyone other than the Aurors." She told them disapparating back to get Draco.

"Did you miss me?" She asked chuckling as he tried to fend off three women asking him to join their party.

"Of course," He told her leading her out to the carriage for the second time, "You handled those men very well, you must have gotten top marks in defense against the dark arts."

"Yes, it was one of my favorite classes." She said needing to change the subject fast, "I had a very fun time tonight Draco." She said putting her arms around his neck and regretting that she was going to have to kiss him to change the subject.

"I'll miss you when I'm at school. I'll write and tell you when my first Hogsmead visit is, I'd love to meet you there." He said placing his arms behind her waist and pulling her close.

"You just want to show me off to your friends," Tonks joked, "Don't forget what I said about Dumbledore, he is a great man and you can trust him to figure out what's best for you."

"Promise me that no matter what happens when I get back to school, we'll still be friends." He almost pleaded with her.

"Yes, we'll be friends no matter what, even if something happens while you are at school." She said knowing he was going to kiss her soon. Surprisingly he helped her into the coach and escorted her back to the hotel.

"Good night Amanda, I look forward to when we will next see each other." He told her giving her a tight hug and a very short kiss before leaving her standing in front of her door.

"Where have you been? Are you all right? He didn't hurt you did he?" Remus said hurrying out from under the cloak and wrapping his arms around her.

"I'm sorry I'm late, while we were leaving the club I spotted a couple of lost death eaters and captured them and took them in for questioning. I'm fine; Draco didn't do anything to me." She said soothingly, enjoying how worked up he got over her, it had been a long time since someone cared that much to worry about her safety.

Remus took her face in his hands and kissed her, he no longer cared that she was still in her 'Amanda' face, he only cared that she was safe with him. "Come on, throw on your pink hair and funky clothes and let's go see if Arthur and Molly are still celebrating so you can shake hands with your new boss and then check on your new prisoners."

Tonks smiled at how well he knew her, she was already thinking of how to convince him that she needed to go into the office. They had become close friends through their time with the order last year, and now they were in love. She had to be the happiest girl on the planet; she didn't realize that Ginny and Hermoine were sharing the exact same sentiments at that very moment.

They all enjoyed shopping the next day, Ginny decided Harry needed Emerald green robes to match his eyes; she had the lady embroider the Potter crest on them as well and picked him out a black collard shirt and black dress slacks to go with them. She decided against matching robes when she saw a beautiful purple dress with exquisite bead work and matching silk robes. She was running her fingers over the fabric lovingly when a sales witch came up and said, "That's expensive dear, why don't you look over there where the rest of the girls are shopping," the rude lady said pointing to a group of giggling girls at a rack in the back of the store. Ginny had always been treated badly for being poor by sales witches and just let go of the dress and started to walk away when she felt Harry's hand in hers.

"Excuse me, I don't believe you know who you are talking to or you'd be eating your words." Harry said coldly. He hated when people judged you before they even gave you notice. "Now she wants to try the dress on and I expect you to apologize for your rude behavior before I have to call over your manager." Harry's voice must have traveled to the manager for she came rushing over.

"Is there a problem here sir?" She asked eyeing his tailored silk robes (the black ones) and expensive footwear.

"Yes, your sales witch here was very rude to my friend who was looking to purchase a gown to wear to her father's inauguration this evening." He saw the witch's eyes flash to his scar and then to Ginny's red hair and realized who she was dealing with. "I'm very sorry about that Mr. Potter; I'll just get one of my other ladies to help Miss Weasley with her selections." The lady said dragging the rude witch away who looked like she might pass out once she realized who she had been speaking to.

Harry squeezed Ginny's hand and turned to see her trying not to laugh. "No more sales racks for you Gin, you're the minister of magic's daughter."

Ginny couldn't hold it any longer she burst out laughing, "Did you see that rude woman's face when her boss said your name, then when she said mine she looked like she might just faint. I never expected my name to carry any weight, and now my dad's the Minister of Magic!" She dissolved into giggles again and finally composed herself as a younger witch approached and led her to a changing room to try on the dress. Harry bought her the dress and robes as well as matching shoes and handbag. He noticed her eyeing the costume jewelry fondly, but he already had an idea for her jewels for the night. They met up with everyone else for lunch and they all showed each other their purchases. Ron was sporting deep blue velvet robes with the Weasley crest on them; Hermoine had gold robes with a cream colored dress to go underneath. Fred and George had bought matching lime green robes with pinstripe suits to go underneath, they said in memory of Fudge, Bill had royal blue robes and Charlie had red robe. Tonks smiled and kept her robes to herself, she whispered to Harry that they were pale pink but not to tell Remus, who had bought himself dark green robes. Mrs. Weasley had ivory colored robes and dress and looked like she might have a panic attack if they all didn't get back home immediately.

Harry went into the vault and looked thought the jewelry pieces. He found a stunning pearl necklace for Mrs. Weasley with matching earrings, bracelet and hair comb. He picked out a gold chain for Hermoine who wouldn't want anything fancy. He found a silver necklace with stones that looked like pink sapphires for Tonks. They were a vivid hot pink, just like her hair with matching bracelet and earrings. He finally found the amethyst necklace he wanted for Ginny, she loved purple. It was a platinum chain with diamonds and deeply purple amethyst. The amethyst surrounded the diamonds in the shape of a rose. He picked a pair of simple amethyst stud earrings to complete the picture.

When the women entered the living room they looked beautiful. He noticed none of them had any jewelry on like he had asked them. He sat Mrs. Weasley down and handed her the pearls. She smiled and allowed Harry to put the necklace on her and went upstairs to change her hair to incorporate the hair comb. Hermoine tried to protest saying she didn't like jewelry but even she couldn't protest to the simple and elegant gold chain. Tonks told him she didn't want anything unless he had hot pink stones and almost passed out when he showed her the necklace and matching bracelet and earrings. She squealed in delight and happily put them on.

Lastly Harry came to Ginny; Hermoine knew it had to be good. If she knew Harry he would make sure his girl had the most beautiful of all. Ron and the rest of the boys were still upstairs playing exploding snap not wanting anything to do with girls and jewels. Harry opened the box with Ginny's necklace and she couldn't believe it. "Oh, Harry, it's beautiful." She said tears welling up in her eyes and she got up and hugged him. "I've never seen anything more perfect."

"I have Gin," Harry said making sure none of the boys or Mrs. Weasley was around. "You are 100 times more beautiful than this necklace." Tonks looked funny at Harry until Ginny pulled him into a deep and passionate kiss. Then she looked at Hermoine who was smiling at her friends and told Tonks it was a secret with a wink.

"I love you Harry." Ginny told him letting him go and blushing when she realized Hermoine and Tonks had seen her kiss him.

"I love you too Gin, now you three better go finish getting ready." He told them as Ginny rushed upstairs to show her mother the necklace with Hermoine following close behind.

Harry laughed at the inquiring look he got from Tonks, "I figured I could trust you with our secret seeing how you are on your way to being my mum."

"I would hex you right now if I still wasn't so excited about the necklace," she said punching him playfully on the arm. "Don't worry; your secret is safe with me."

I figured that Remus knew so you should too, I wouldn't want to cause him to lie to you." Harry said giving her a hug. "You look beautiful tonight mum."

"Will you quit with that!" Tonks joked, "You're more like a very annoying little bother than a son anyway." She said knowing how crazy the new nickname would make Remus and finding it funny.

The inauguration went well. It basically consisted of a lot of hand shaking, picture taking and a speech by Mr. Weasley who was wearing black robes with purple trim instead of the optional purple robes like Fudge had worn. Harry was surprised to see Draco Malfoy there, and even more surprised when he politely shook Mr. Weasley's hand. "That was a very nice speech Minister. I wanted you to know as current head of the Malfoy Estate you have my full support." Draco said, trying to undo some of his father's misdeeds. "I hope that we can finally bring an end to the hostilities our families have held on to for these past many years."

"Thank you Mr. Malfoy, I too look forward to ending the rift between our two families," Mr. Weasley said politely before moving on to the next handshake. Harry almost believed he was seeing a fake copy of the Draco Malfoy he knew when Draco turned and smirked at him.

Chapter 13: Prefects

"Come on Harry wake up," said Remus' soft voice. "You're a prefect now, how would it look if you missed the train?"

Harry sat up quickly, remembering that he was going back to school today. He smiled at Remus before jumping out of bed and getting dressed in his muggle clothes. He smiled as he looked in the mirror at his black jeans and green t-shirt it was nice to have clothes that fit. "Are you going with us to the station?" He asked hopefully. He was going to miss Remus terribly when he went back to school.

"Yep, Tonks is coming too." Remus smiled and pulled him into a hug, "You going to miss me?"

"Yes," Harry said looking at his adopted father. "I've always been so excited about going back to school, but I'm going to miss being able to talk to you all the time."

"You'll have a great year; Dumbledore has a few surprises for you." Remus said, his eyes twinkling.

"You have very mischievous twinkle in your eyes; I'd say you're up to something!" Harry laughed as he put his last few things into his trunk and Remus levitated it down the stairs.

They stored their trunks in one of the front compartments near the prefect's compartment along with Neville's and Luna's trunks before going outside to say goodbye to their families. Hermione's parents had come to see her off and she was introducing them to Tonks and Lupin. Many of the older students were coming up to shake Mr. Weasley's hand. Fred and George winked at Harry and handed both him and Ginny a small box. "You can enlarge them when you get there." Fred said hugging his little sister.

"Make the Weasley name proud." George said is his best imitation of Mrs. Weasley, Ginny giggled and stuck the box in her pocket before hugging Bill and Charlie. Bill picked her up and spun her telling her to have a good year and Charlie told her to have fun playing Quidditch.

Tonks gave Harry a quick kiss and hug telling him to have fun. Remus wrapped Harry in a strong hug. "Try and stay out of trouble this year." He said smiling, "Or at least don't get caught. Good luck with Quidditch and being a prefect, I know you'll have a great year."

Harry was hugged by all the Weasleys and was about to get on the train when he ran back to Remus and hugged him again. "Bye dad, I'll miss you." Then he got on the train with his friends. They all waved as the train left the station.

"Come on we have to go to the prefects meeting," Hermoine said to the other three. "We'll come back as soon as we can," she told Neville and Luna. They made their way into the prefect cabin. Harry walked in behind the other two fastening his prefect badge on to his t-shirt.

"You lost Potter? Or could you not be away from your precious friends?" Draco Malfoy drawled as the other Slytherins laughed, obviously not noticing Harry's shiny new badge. Ron smirked in Malfoy's direction; he knew it must irk Draco that his dad got named Minister of Magic.

"Are you blind Malfoy?" Harry said pointing to the badge on his chest and taking a seat as all the other prefects laughed. Draco scowled and sat down almost pouting he thought only 5th years were made prefects, damn Potter had to have everything.

During the meeting Draco kept looking over at the little Weasley. He remembered seeing her at the restaurant the night he met Amanda. Did he felt guilty for looking at the pretty red head? He had never felt guilty before, Malfoy's do as they please with no fits of conscience! He snuck another peek at the red head, she was exquisite. Her hair was light and bouncy and she has a great figure. Her eyes were full of laughter and she had full plump pink lips. Draco imagined kissing those lips and smiled. That pang of guilt hit him again, he tried to shake it off, and there was nothing wrong with watching a beautiful woman! He cleared his head and went back to his compartment to find Crabbe and Goyle, his henchmen.

Ginny was so excited about have a separate room that she got to share with Hermoine; she didn't get along with any of the girls in her year. Supposedly the prefects rooms were right off the common room, they were each told that they could make up their own passwords when they got there. The rooms were separate for boys and girls but there was no charm to keep the boys out of the girls' room, they were prefects and were therefore trusted to behave.

She smiled thinking about Harry being able to come in and kiss her goodnight. "What you smiling at Ginny?" Neville asked her, they were back from the prefect carriage now.

"I'm just excited to see my new room." Ginny said blushing. Harry saw her blush and knew she wasn't telling Neville the truth. She only got that look when she was with him or thinking about him.

"Did you have a nice summer Neville?" Hermoine asked him.

"It was ok, my gran was happy that your dad won the election," He told Ron, "She had been bad mouthing Fudge all summer. She thinks it's nice that I'm friends with both you and Harry. She was saying that your dad will be able to help the order, whatever that is. She was on and on about doing all she could for the order and the cause, I think she might finally be loosing it." Neville said sadly.

The others all looked at each other, except for Luna who was reading her Quibber. Neville's grandmother new about the Order? She was trying to help? Harry made a mental note to write Remus or mention it to McGonagall if he got the chance. "Did you really get adopted Harry?" Luna asked in her dreamy voice.

"Yes, by Professor Lupin, he was one of my parent's best friends." Harry said smiling; he wasn't ashamed of the fact.

"Who do you think is going to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts this year?" Ron asked, "We're about due for another good teacher, the last two were insane."

"My Gran told me that I would really enjoy defense classes this year, she knows whose teaching but she wouldn't tell me. She told me that we had to keep practicing." Neville told them.

"I hope she's right." Harry told them, "I want to keep up with the DA, but if we have a good instructor I'll be able to focus the DA on more complex things, not just what we should be doing in class."

Ron, Harry, Neville and Ginny played exploding snap while Hermoine was reading her transfiguration text book and Luna the Quibber. Harry had just won the game, and was doing a victory dance, when Cho opened the compartment door. She had been made Head Girl. "Hello Harry," She said smiling. Harry tried not to roll his eyes.

"Hello Cho, congratulations on Head Girl." Harry said politely. Ginny was shooting Cho a dangerous look.

"Could I talk with you for a moment in private Harry?" Cho asked sweetly.

"I'm sure whatever it is you can say in front of my friends." Harry told her, watching as Cho's fake smile faltered slightly.

"Oh, ok." She said looking down to quickly compose herself. "I wanted to apologize for how I acted last year and I was hoping you would give me another chance."

Harry glanced at Ginny who looked like she might jump up and start hexing Cho any minute. "Aren't you dating Michael Corner?" Ron asked in a rough tone.

Cho looked away, she hadn't planned on his friends being there, she thought she could sweet talk Harry if she got him alone. "We broke up over the summer, I told him I still liked you Harry."

"I don't like you that way Cho," Harry said feeling slightly bad for hurting her, but knowing she only liked him for his popularity.

"Do you already like someone else?" Cho asked shocked, no boy had ever turned her down before.

"Yes," Harry said sitting back down to indicate the conversation was over.

"Oh," Cho said turning and leaving the compartment, as soon as she left Ron burst out laughing. Harry looked at him questioningly.

"Her face was priceless when you said you liked someone else," Ron said still laughing. "I bet she only decided to want you back when your picture was in the paper again."

"Yeah, I'm done with girls like that." Harry said looking at Ginny, "I don't know what I ever saw in her."

"She's pretty." Neville told him, looking at Harry like he was crazy to turn down the most popular girl in school.

"Not really. She may look nice on the outside, but she's ugly underneath and that makes her ugly all over." Harry told him. "When a girl is beautiful on the inside it makes her even prettier on the outside."

"Wow Harry!" Hermoine said, "That is the most mature thing I've ever heard a guy say. Every girl wants to know she is liked for who she is not what she looks like."

"I think you're pretty on the inside Hermoine." Ron said blushing as Harry and Ginny started laughing. Hermoine just smiled, he really was a git sometimes.

They were just finishing their lunch from the trolley when the door opened again and there was Malfoy flanked by his goons. "So Potter is your old wolf all upset that I stole his girl from him?" Malfoy laughed.

Harry jumped up; he knew he had to make it look like Malfoy had stolen Tonks away and that he was upset about it. "Anyone willing to go out with you isn't worth his time," Harry told him. "Besides, I'm sure she's only going out with you for your money, it's not there would be any other reason to spend time with a Death Eaters son." Harry was fingering his wand in his pocket and could tell the rest of his friends were ready to strike.

"You only wish you had such a beautiful woman," Malfoy gloated sneaking a glace at the little Weasley.

"I wouldn't be too sure of yourself Malfoy, I bet Amanda's moved on to bigger fish now that you're back in school and can't keep tabs on her." Harry said smirking. Malfoy pulled his wand out but before he could say a word he had 5 wands pointing at his head and Harry twirled his wand in between his fingers. "I think you should leave now Malfoy, I wouldn't want to have to report a disturbance to Dumbledore when we get there." Harry said adjusting his prefect badge. Draco just glared and then turned and left.

"Well that was fun," Ron said as he sat back down and pulled out his chess board.

"He's not to sure of himself anymore is he?" Hermoine smiled, she liked the fact that Malfoy was forced to tuck is tail between his legs and turn and run. It was a nice change from him calling her every name in the book.

"I surprised he even attempted at all, we way out number him." Ginny said.

Malfoy was in a foul mood when he got back to his cabin, he had only wanted to go bother Potter to get another look at the little Weasley. He knew that Potter's friend would protect him, but he didn't expect Longbottom and the Ravenclaw Loon to join in as well. "Damn Potter!" He growled. Crabbe and Goyle nodded in agreement. Draco wondered if he told them to jump off the Astronomy tower if they would, they seemed only to exist to do his bidding. Their fathers were the same way for his father; he wondered what they were doing now that his dad was locked up.

"Our dads got arrested on Friday night," Goyle told him putting his head down; "Someone ambushed them from behind."

"My mum says they were questioned by the Aurors for two days before they were sent to Azkaban," Crabbe told Draco, who was now mildly interested.

"Where were they arrested at?" Draco asked wondering if they were the two stupid death eaters Amanda had caught.

"Someplace in Diagon Alley." Goyle shrugged, confirming Draco's suspicion. He would have to thank Amanda, not that Crabbe and Goyle's fathers were locked up they couldn't get any information to his father. Draco was free to do as he wished without fearing what might get back to the death eaters. He knew a few other students had parents in Voldemort's circle, but most of their wives and children didn't even know.

Draco got up and headed towards the prefect carriage, he wasn't paying attention and knocked into someone.

Ginny was heading off to go say hi to Colin and Dennis Creevey when she knocked into someone. "I'm sorry," she said her hair was in her face and she couldn't see who helped her off the floor. When she tossed her hair out of her eyes she was staring straight at Draco Malfoy.

"Careful there Little Weasley, wouldn't want you to hurt your pretty little head." Malfoy smirked. He looked the red head up and down, she was definitely beautiful. Ginny didn't know what to say, Draco hadn't insulted her or been rude, when she thought about it he had helped her up and basically complimented her. She just walked away without responding. Draco smiled; he would have to bump into her more often.

The six of them piled into a carriage and walked into the Great Hall for the sorting and opening feast. Luna said goodbye and headed for her table. They all sat at the head of the Gryffindor table so they could welcome the first years like they had been instructed, Neville went to sit by Dean and Seamus. Harry looked up to the staff table and grinned. Remus was next to Snape and some other new teacher with short brown hair. He waved and smiled, he knew who the Dark Arts teacher was now, he just wondered who the other lady was, and Remus seemed to know her for she was talking to both Remus and Snape. Harry elbowed Ron and pointed Remus out to him, Hermoine was just as excited. In fact most of the student body seemed happy to see their old professor. Harry heard several students saying they were glad there would be a good dark arts professor this year.

The sorting was soon over and the new Gryffindors had all been welcomed to the table. Dumbledore stood and the hall went silent. "Welcome, Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. I see you have all noticed the new faces at the staff table. I'm sure most of you remember Professor Lupin who will be resuming his role as one of your Defense against the Dark Arts teachers." It was then that Harry recognized the other woman.

"It's Tonks!" Harry whispered to Hermoine and Ron.

Dumbledore continued, "As you are all aware of Professor Lupin's condition the Ministry had agreed to lend us and auror to assist with teaching the Defense Against the Dark Arts class. This will be your most important class work this year. You are all aware of the rise of Voldemort and must be able to defend yourselves. Let me introduce your other new instructor, Professor Tonks." The entire hall clapped for her, none harder than Harry and his friends. She smiled and waved at the hall. "Let the feast begin."

Ron stuffed his mouth as usual; the first years were looking at him like he was some sort of circus show. Harry was very happy for his adopted father; he knew how much Remus enjoyed teaching. He was also happy to see Tonks, Remus was off for almost one week per month due to his transformations and he didn't want Snape covering for him again.

Dumbledore gave the standard start of term reminders before dismissing them to their dormitories. Harry and Ginny led the first years; Ron complained that he had to do it last year. They showed them the portrait of the fat lady and the common room and where the dorms were before sending the frightened looking kids up to bed. They now had to find their room.

Hermoine and Ron were waiting by a portrait of a little girl playing with kittens. They decided their password should be Marauder. It had a small entryway with a little table that would work well for leaving each other notes between classes. They went into the girls' room first; it was large with two queen size four poster beds, their trunks waiting at the bottom. "Where's the 7th year prefect sleeping?" Ron asked them.

"She transferred to Beauxbattons, I heard she wants to get a job in France." Hermoine told them. The boys' room was almost identical to the girls down to the queen size four posters. "I wonder why he didn't appoint a 5th year prefect?"

"Who cares, now we don't have to worry about slipping up and talking about the order, if we need to talk about anything private we can come in here?" Ron said smiling as he plopped down on his bed.

The next morning McGonagall handed out their schedules at breakfast. "Why do they do this to us?" Harry groaned, "Double NWET level potions first thing Monday morning!"

"Tough luck mate, of course I'm still stuck in Divination, but I'm glad I don't have to put up with Snape anymore." Ron told him. "I'll see you two in Transfiguration."

Harry and Hermoine said goodbye to Ron and Neville, who not surprisingly was no longer taking potions, and headed down to the dungeons. They were the only Gryffindors who had high enough OWLs to get into the class. Malfoy was without his trusted body guards and was sitting next to Pansy Parkinson. Justin Finch-Fletchy the only one from Hufflepuff, the rest were Ravenclaws and Slytherins.

Snape billowed into the room and tapped the board; instructions for a very complex potion were on the board. "Potter, can you tell me what potion this is?" He said smirking. He would see just how smart the boy was.

"It's Polyjuice potion sir." Harry said recognizing the ingredients from both his second year and the textbook that he actually read over the summer. He had tried to memorize it to the best of his ability to keep Snape from giving him detention.

Snape seemed surprised that he knew the answer, but he smiled. "And can you tell me how long it takes to make and why a student such as yourself should not be able to make it."

"Yes sir, it takes a month to make and many of the ingredients such as boomslang skin are not part of our student potion ingredients." Harry said, he loved the look of loathing Snape gave him at the mention of boomslang skin. That was what he accused Harry of stealing in his second year, when in reality it was Hermoine that had taken it.

Snape tapped the board and the ingredients to a simple potion appeared, "Mr. Malfoy what is this potion?" The class went on like this for most of the hour, Snape taking house points from everyone who answered incorrectly. Harry could tell he was very upset that he had no cause to take points from Gryffindor since he had answered every question correctly, including the follow-up questions designed to trick him.

When class ended he was in a good mood, it was the first time he could remember not loosing house points or getting detention from Snape. He was going to study hard so Snape couldn't find fault with his work. "Mr. Potter a word," Snape said holding him back. "Your oclumency lessons will be on Tuesday afternoons directly after your last lesson; I expect you have been practicing clearing your mind this summer."

"Yes sir. I only have Herbologry after lunch on Tuesday, am I supposed to come directly after or am I to wait until the end of classes?" Harry said using his most polite voice.

"Directly after Herbologry." Snape told him dismissing him.

Harry hurried to transfiguration where he sat next to Ron, "I did it!" Harry said triumphantly. "I made it through an entire potions class without loosing a house point or getting detention!"

"Harry didn't answer a question wrong; you should have seen Snape trying to trick him so he could take points away!" Hermoine giggled. Harry looked up at Professor McGonagall who smiled at him.

That day they were reviewing last years work, they had to vanish a few items. Harry was the first one to vanish his mouse; Hermoine looked at him surprised as she then successfully vanished hers. "Well done Mr. Potter, Miss Granger ten points each." Professor McGonagall told them. They went to lunch and met up with Ginny who looked like she wanted to kill someone.

"That man asked me every single question he could think of until I finally missed one," She said fuming about Snape. "He only asked everyone else one easy question but the asked me at least 20 until he asked about a potion that isn't even in the book, I only knew part of it so he said, 'you'll need to study harder than that to succeed in potion making Miss Weasley' like I would know to study the 7th year text, I'm only in 5th!"

"He tried the same thing with me Gin," Harry said reassuringly, smiling at her as she instantly calmed down. Harry's presence always soothed her. They headed out to the Greenhouses to join the Hufflepuffs for class then went to Care of Magical Creatures.

"Will we ever get away from the Slytherins?" Ron complained. Draco and his goons walked down to the paddock they were working at. Hagrid came out of his hut with Fawks on his shoulder, who immediately took flight and came over to Harry.

"Hello Fawks, I hope you had a nice summer." Harry said petting the beautiful scarlet bird.

"We will be studying the phoenix today, who can tell me about them?" Hagrid asked smiling at how much the bird liked Harry.

"The phoenix never dies; it is reborn from its ashes." Malfoy drawled looking at the bird. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he was fascinated by the phoenix. They were one of his favorite magical creatures.

"That's right, 5 points to Mr. Malfoy," Hagrid told him; nobody could ever accuse him of playing favorites like Snape did.

"They have incredible strength." Another student said, "They are capable of carrying tens of times their weight."

"Their tears have healing properties." Ron added.

"Their song strikes fear into the hearts of their enemies and strengthens those with good intentions." Hermione told him smiling at Fawks. Hagrid gave everyone who answered 5 house points.

"Can you think of anything else Harry?" Hagrid asked him.

"They are very loyal," Harry said, "They can also move from place to place like apparating. If they trust you and love you enough they will help you fifth or will willingly, like for example getting in the way of a killing curse."

"Very good Harry, 20 points." Hagrid smiled, "Will you please stand so everyone can see Fawks." Harry stood with the bird on his shoulder for the class to see.

"Hagrid, where did you get the phoenix?" Seamus asked, "They are a very rare magical creature and most are peoples pets."

"Fawks here is Professor Dumbledore's. As you can see he is very loyal, he knows and trusts Harry that is why he flew to him." Hagrid spent the rest of the class describing the phoenix and assigned them a foot long essay on the creature.

They rushed up to the castle to get to charms, their last class of the day. They also reviewed last year's charms and discussed their OWL results. Professor Flitwick gave Hermoine 5 house points for scoring the highest on her OWL. He told them that they would be starting disillusionment charms tomorrow and he wanted them all to be ready.

"We only have homework in one class, and that's Care of Magical Creatures?" Hermoine asked almost sounding scandalized at the lack of work. They ate dinner and went up to do their phoenix essay before their prefect rounds. Harry was patrolling on the fourth floor near the defense against the dark art classroom when he heard laughing and went to investigate.

"You really think he's scared of the moon?" He heard on of them say.

"Yeah, hurry up before we get caught." Another boy said. Harry could see that they were trying to levitate a fake moon into the classroom. Harry smiled; he was going to enjoy punishing these boys, no one messed with his dad.

"You having a good time?" Harry asked as they turned scared to look at him, seemingly relieved when they noticed he wasn't a professor. The one boy turned like he was going to run but Harry shouted, "Yes, run so I can practice my full body bind hex on you." Both boys stood frozen to the spot. Harry could tell by their robes that they were Slytherins, probably second years. "And what are you doing out of bed after hours?"

"Nothing," the smaller of the two added, "We were just decorating the werewolf's classroom to make him feel welcome."

"Yeah, what does it matter to you?" The larger one asked, he still looked fearfully at Harry's wand after the threat of the body bind.

"I am a prefect, therefore I must insist on accompanying you back to your common room and you will be serving detention with Hagrid tomorrow after classes. The unicorn paddock needs cleaning, without magic." Harry said smiling and then vanishing the fake orb with a flick of his wand. "Come on lets go."

"I will not serve detention with that half-breed." The little one said, this kid was not insulting another person Harry cared about.

"Is there a problem here boys?" Lupin asked stepping out of the shadows before Harry hexed the two little brats. The two boys just glared at him. "I think that your detention will actually take two days to serve out, don't you Harry?" Remus said smiling at the faces of the boys when they realized they were definitely in trouble.

"Now I don't want to see you two out after hours again or I will take house points. I will be informing Professor Snape of this incident as well." Remus told them, "Now I believe you can find your way back to your common room, and I would be quick about it before another prefect catches you and gives you detention."

The boys went off in the direction of the dungeons and Remus turned to Harry. "Can you believe they thought a fake moon would scare me?" Remus laughed patting him on the back. "I did like your punishment though, much more effective for those two than writing lines."

"Yes, their spoiled little rich hands scooping manure, I might just go watch if I didn't have oclumency." Harry laughed, looking at his watch he saw that he was done with his rounds.

"How's your first day go?" Remus asked walking with Harry back to Gryffindor tower. "I saw you had double potions this morning, did you have any trouble?"

"He tried to trip me up, but I read the potions text three times this summer, I answered every question right, it's the first time I haven't lost house points or got detention." Harry told him. "In transfiguration I was the first one to vanish my mouse, even faster than Hermoine, and Hagrid gave me 20 house points for my knowledge of Fawks. It was a pretty good day."

Remus recounted his day and told Harry that all the students are being good, only a few Slytherins acting up of course. He hugged him goodbye at the portrait hole. "Good night son, enjoy your new room."

"Night dad, I'll see you at breakfast." Harry said going in to find Ginny to say goodnight. She was sitting on the sofa in front of the fire reading the 7th year potions text book. "I think you should just tell him he's a git, it would save the time of reading." He joked sitting down next to her; she leaned into him and continued to read, throwing her legs over the arm of the sofa and using Harry to hold her up. He took out one of Defense against the dark arts books and started planning the first DA lesson.

Ron came in dripping wet and looking furious, he stomped over to them. "Peeves! He was waiting with a full bucket of water! Now I have to go change!" He said heading towards their room.

"Ron, you're a wizard, you shouldn't need to change," Ginny giggled still reading. Ron realized what she meant and dried himself using his wand then sat down and opened a Quidditch magazine.

"I have a lot of ideas for the team this year Harry, I spent the summer studying plays. We need to hold tryouts as soon as possible so we can figure out what are strengths and weaknesses are," Ron told him seriously. Harry hadn't given much thought to running the team, he guessed as captain her would be expected to put in hours of time preparing plays and making diagrams, but he just wasn't up to it.

"Sounds good Ron, I'm sure everything you come up with will be great." Harry told his friend, he decided to let Ron handle all the extra Quidditch work and concentrate on the DA.

The next morning Harry got up before his friends and went to see Professor McGonagall. "I'm very honored to be captain, but I really don't have the time to dedicate to it with oclumency and DA." Harry told her sadly. "Ron has been strategizing all summer, I think he would make a much better captain."

"I will make you two co-captains. I know the team will listen to you that is why I made you captain. By having Mr. Weasley the co-captain he can strategize and you can inspire and command." She told him, "I'm glad you came to me with this, I wouldn't want to overwhelm you."

"No, that's for next year and the NEWTs right?" Harry joked as he left her office to head to breakfast and see his friends.

Chapter 15: Secret Admirer

Harry hurried and sat down next to Ginny, he wasted to see her reaction when the post arrived. A large barn owl swooped down and dropped a small parcel in her lap. She opened the package to see the purple quill she had begged her mother for and smiled. She opened the card, thinking it was from her mum.

My Dearest Ginny,

I think of you both day and night. I wish that I could hold you tight. I tell you this with all my might. When it is dark you are my light.

All my love,

Your Admirer

Ginny frowned as she read the card, she didn't want a secret admirer, she only wanted Harry. She turned to look at him and noticed the smile in his eyes as he innocently asked her what she had gotten and who it was from. "It's from an admirer," she said smiling at him as he squeezed her leg and she realized it was from him. She showed the card to Hermoine who smiled and Ron who glared.

"He's chicken," Ron said, "He knows you would never like him if he told you himself so he's trying to buy you off."

"Stop it Ron," Hermoine warned him, "I think it's very romantic and how do you know he's not a great guy that wants her to get to know him without her friends and family trying to hex him into oblivion."

Ginny just smiled and pressed her foot to Harry's under the table. "I think it's sweet. So lighten up Ron." Ron just kept looking around the great hall trying to notice someone looking her way. He wasn't just letting anyone court his sister!

Professor McGonagall came up to Ron while he was still looking for the guilty party. "Mr. Weasley, when the letters went out your Quidditch captain badge was forgotten," she told him handing him his badge. "I decided that it would be in the team's best interest to have co-captains this year."

"Thanks," Ron said unbelieving looking to see Harry smiling. "You sure this is ok Harry?" He asked not wanting to upset his best friend.

"Yes, you have all those new moves to teach the team, besides I'm not really into the strategizing part of the game, I just love to play." Harry said patting Ron on the back. Ron skipped off to DADA with Hermoine almost running to keep up with him. He walks faster when he's happy.

"That was nice of you to talk to McGonagall Harry," Ginny whispered in his ear, just hearing her say his name made him weak in his knees.

"Don't tell Ron," He said grinning and then running off to class. It was his first DADA class, he couldn't wait to see what Remus and Tonks had planned. Harry sat at a table with Neville behind Ron and Hermoine. It seemed that being made captain made Ron forget about Ginny's admirer.

"Good morning class," Lupin said walking in as the rest of the class sat down, Harry noticed Tonks came in looking like a student and took a seat in the back of the room, he could tell that no one else noticed, even Ron and Hermoine. He looked questioningly at Remus who winked telling him to let it go. "Today we are going to revisit something you were taught in your 4th year, Constant Vigilance!"

The class jumped as Remus croaked the phrase out just like the fake Moody had. "You have to stay aware of your surroundings, know every person in the room. You need to take in your surroundings so they can't catch you off guard. How many of you can point out the dangers in this room?" He called upon Hermoine first.

"The large tapestry in the corner, someone could be hiding behind it." She told them; Remus smiled and pulled on the tapestry to reveal a sign that said, "You could be dead." Some of the class laughed, others took it to heart.

"The windows are open, someone could get in that way," Malfoy drawled. The class went on to address every possible danger in the room, except Tonks.

"Now how many of you think we have discovered every possible threat?" Remus asked as everyone raised their hand except for Harry. Remus smiled, "Harry here is the only one correct, and can you tell me the general nature of the danger Harry?"

"We are still in danger from the people in the room," Harry generalized; he realized Remus wanted to get the class to find Tonks.

"Very good, 5 points to Gryffindor." Remus told him, "You all neglected the largest threat, your classmates. You trust everyone here who is Hogwarts robes, but what if I was to tell you there is an intruder right here who could have taken out half or more of you without anyone noticing?" The class gasped and looked around the room.

"Constant vigilance includes looking at every person in detail. If you had, you would have noticed a student that does not belong." Remus said as finally some of the class started noticing Tonks. "From her position in the back of the room, she could have taken out half of you before you had time to react. Harry was the only one to notice the stranger."

"Professor Lupin, how did an unauthorized student enter Hogwarts with all the charms and protections?" Dean Thomas asked him.

"You see, she is not a student at all, she's actually a highly trained ministry official. She is an auror who specializes in infiltration. Can anyone guess how she accomplished passing herself off as a student?" Remus asked motioning Tonks to come to the front for a better look.

"Polyjuice potion," Malfoy drawled, "She could have taken a hair from anyone in the right age group to make the potion."

"That would be a good way Mr. Malfoy; I'll give you 3 points for that, the person who guesses correctly will win 5 points." Remus smiled as hands flew up from all over the class with ideas from shrinking charms (Ron's idea), to some sort of herb (Neville's) to transfiguring herself (Hermione's). Harry just sat back and smiled that his friends that new her couldn't even guess.

Once the entire class had given their best guess, Remus turned to Harry, "Harry why don't you tell us how she infiltrated us so easily."

"She works in the castle so she did not have to get past the protection wards, she is an auror so she undoubtedly had no problem nicking robes from the laundry and most importantly she is a metamorphmagi and can change her appearance at will." Harry said, enjoying being good at the class.

"Very good Harry, you get the 5 points. Now I'd like to formally introduce all of you to your other teacher, Professor Tonks." Remus said as Tonks morphed in front of them into her pink haired self.

"Good morning class." Tonks said smiling as the class looked at her stunned. "For your homework assignment I would like you all to write a 3 foot essay on the characteristics of a metamorphmagi, ways to spot one and the benefits and dangers." She said right before the bell rang. Harry loved the stunned looks on Ron and Hermione's faces that they hadn't recognized their friend.

The class all left the room except for Harry and Draco. Draco approached Remus. "I wanted to thank you for not letting our personal business with Amanda influence your teaching," Draco said, surprising Harry and Remus, Tonks just smiled.

"I cannot blame you for our breakup, even though I suspect you were the one who told her of my condition," Remus said smirking at how Draco tensed. "I should have been honest with her."

"Thank you sir," Draco said, he was still surprised at Remus' maturity. He then realized what a nice man he was and realized why Amanda had been with him in the first place. "I would also like to apologize for all the rude comments I made about you the last time you worked here." Harry shook his head to clear his ears, had he just heard Malfoy apologize to someone? "Potter," Malfoy nodded walking out of the room.

Harry looked to Remus who shrugged and looked at him just as bewildered. Tonks just said very softly, "Told you so." Harry rushed off to charms, with a note from Remus just in case. He arrived just before the bell and the only seat was next to Malfoy. Ron shot him a sympathetic stare as Harry sat down, wondering what had happened to the Malfoy he knew and hated.

Harry earned house points again when he described the effects of the disillusionment charm especially how it felt to be under it. The class practiced the charm on white mice. They were not allowed to try it on a partner until they could successfully charm the mouse and perform the counter. Harry and Draco were the first pair to finish and had to perform the charm on each other in front of the class. Many of their classmates held their breath waiting for something to go wrong. Hermoine even stopped trying to help Ron with the charm to see if one of them would hex the other by 'mistake.' They both performed the charm without any incidents. Even Professor Flitwick was surprised.

Harry told his friends as he headed down to the dungeons for his first oclumency lesson of the year. Remus had shrunk his pensive so Harry could carry it with him. Harry deposited as many memories of Gin and him as he could remember into the basin; he didn't want Snape to find out about their relationship. The potions master was still depositing memories into his own pensive when Harry entered. Harry had his wand in his hand and had tried to clear his mind before he walked in; he suspected Snape would pounce without warning.

"Legimens," Snape said casting the spell as soon as he stood from his pensive, trying to hide his surprise that Harry had his wand out ready for him. Harry could feel Snape trying to break through the rather thin barrier he had constructed in his mind. Soon images were swirling before him. He was talking with Remus about being adopted, he was playing Quidditch, he saw Ton Riddle in the Chamber of Secrets, then he saw Sirius battling Bellatrix, he knew what would come next if he didn't push Snape out, he would have to relive Sirius' death again. Harry pushed hard and managed to throw off the spell.

"I see you have practiced," Snape said, it was the closed thing to a compliment Harry had ever received from him. They tried a few more times, reach time the barrier holding out longer and Harry pushing him out faster once he broke through. "This time I want you to try and hex me while I'm breaking into your mind. If you were in battle, you would still have to defend yourself physically while fighting off the mental attack."

Snape started trying to access his thoughts again, Harry sent a badly aimed jelly legs jinx at Snape, who had no problems blocking it. Snape sent a mild stunner at him and Harry cast 'protego' just in time. Instantly the roles were reversed and Harry was seeing into Snape's mind. He saw him being taunted by the Slytherins when he was young and he saw a man hitting the child him before Snape tossed off the spell. They fought back and forth for a few more minutes until Snape finally broke into his mind. He saw the vault opening, throwing mud at Malfoy by the Shrieking Shack, then he saw Ginny putting on her purple necklace and pushed Snape out as hard as he could before he realized Harry's attraction to Ginny.

"So you were at the Shrieking Shack that day," Snape sneered; he had known that Harry snuck out and messed with Draco, but he couldn't prove it. Even though he favored Draco in class, he did feel the boy deserved most if not all of what Potter did to him.

"Yes sir," Harry said looking at his feet, realizing he would most likely get detention. Snape looked surprised that Harry confessed and knew he could not punish him for something that happened 3 years ago.

"While we are clearing up past lies," Snape said in his fiercest voice, "Tell me, did you steel the boomslang skin and gilly weed from my personal stores?"

"No sir I did not personally take them, but I alone was responsible for their theft," Harry said, he would rather have a month of detention than get Hermoine into trouble. Snape sighed inwardly at the loyal Gryffindor.

"I will not pursue the actual culprit if you explain to me why you needed the ingredients." Snape said, he had always wondered what Potter wanted with them.

Harry paused, he knew he should just lie but he had a feeling Snape would look specifically for those memories the next time to see if he was truthful. "I needed the boomslang skin to make polyjuice potion," Harry said seeing Snape's surprised face that he had attempted polyjuice in his 2nd year. "I infiltrated the Slytherin common room to try and determine who the Heir of Slytherin was to try and stop the petrifactions and clear my name."

"So that was why Miss Granger was a cat for weeks? She must have mistakenly added cat hair rather than that of who she wished to turn into." Snape said, now understanding how Harry pulled of the potion.

"Yes and the gilly weed was given to me to use for the second task of the tri-wizard tournament. I did not know it came form your stores until after the task." Harry said honestly. "The night Filtch found the golden egg in the hallway; it was the imposter Moody in your office, not me." Harry told him figuring if they were clearing the air he would answer a question he was sure his Professor wanted the answer to as well.

"That is all for tonight Potter, make sure to clear your mind every time you go to sleep, do not forget. I can tell if you practiced. We will meet this same time every week." Snape said as he added his thoughts back to his temple. Harry went turned out of sight in the corridor and placed his thoughts back as well, stowing the pensive away carefully in the bottom of his bag before heading to dinner. Another letter soon arrived for Ginny at dinner from her admirer.

My Dearest Ginny,

Your beauty is endless. Your soft crimson locks are imprinted upon my mind. I could get lost staring into your melodious brown eyes. The rainbow of colors contained within would be enough to entertain my heart for life. You have a tender nature and are fiercely loyal to your family. I hope that one day we can share a life together.

All My Love

The Phoenix

Harry had decided to give himself a name, signing letters 'your admirer' didn't seem personal enough. "The Phoenix," Ginny said smiling, "I like the name, the phoenix is my favorite magical creature." Harry was happy she approved. The gossip around the Gryffindor table was Ginny's secret admirer.

Draco Malfoy was sitting at the Slytherin table next to Pansy who was listening in on some Ravenclaws gossiping. She looked disgusted and turned to Draco, "Can you believe that ugly Weasley girl has a secret admirer? Ugh, who would want someone like her?"

Draco was upset he hadn't thought of the idea of being her admirer. Pansy was just jealous because she knew the little Weasley was beautiful. Pansy looked like someone had hit her in the face with a frying pan. Draco laughed inwardly as Pansy turned to him and started flirting again. "She is the Minister's daughter," Draco reminded her. "And will you stop batting your eyes at me, I am dating someone and even if I wasn't I would not date you." Draco had to tell her to lay off every year; somehow she always seemed to think the next year would be different.

The next morning Ginny received a pale pink rose, almost white in color, its tips were tinted a darker pink making it look like the flower was wearing lipstick. The note read "All my love, The Phoenix." Ginny smiled and brought the flower up to drink in its fragrance. The petals touched her lips and she shuddered, she had felt the same electricity she got when kissing Harry.

"That's a kissing rose!" Lavender Brown said in awe, "That is so romantic."

"The sender takes and kisses the rose and it turns a different shade around the tip. If the recipient touches the petals to their lips it is supposed to feel like the sender has kissed them." Pavarti explained, she was the Gryffindor expert on all things romantic and considered herself a match maker.

Ginny smiled and blushed, that was why she had felt the tingling sensation from the flower. She loved it, Harry was such a romantic. "He must really like you Ginny; the spell doesn't work unless the person sending it feels very strongly about the recipient." Lavender cooed, "I wish someone liked me enough to send me a kissing rose."

Ron just glared at the flower; he didn't want Ginny to be kissing anyone, even if it was through a flower. Draco was glaring from the Slytherin table as well; he knew what kind of rose that was. She had looked so beautiful brushing the rose against her lips that he was tempted to rush across the hall and kiss her himself. Guilt raced through him at he thought, he had momentarily forgotten Amanda. He stood up to go write to her before classes, trying to force his mind from the Gryffindor red head.

Potions went rather smoothly for Harry, Snape only insulted his potion once and that was only to tell him it was supposed to be robins egg blue not periwinkle. Harry looked around the class, the only one with a robins egg blue potion was Draco who had never messed up a potion in class. Hermoine looked upset that her potion was a royal blue and fussed over the ingredients to see if she could remedy it. The potion was for Madame Pomphrey, it stopped internal bleeding and healed damaged internal organs.

Harry left the classroom slowly, he knew Ginny had class right after him and wanted to say hello before transfiguration. He smiled as she was still carrying her flower in her hand. "Hello Harry, don't you think my admirer was sweet to send me this lovely flower." She asked him looking deep into his emerald pools of green. Draco Malfoy walked out of the classroom just then and saw her looking at boy wonder. She had a secret admirer and still she drooled over Potter! Draco deliberately bumped into Harry as he walked past. Harry scowled at Draco; he had been acting so weird lately. At least when they had been openly hostile toward each other he had known what to expect. He hadn't insulted Ron's family or called Hermoine a mud-blood once so far. Harry was beginning to wonder if Tonks was right and he was changing for the better.

Lupin had an interesting lesson planned for the day; Tonks was off on Order aka auror business. He taught them about occlumency about how someone could see into your thoughts. He handed everyone a permission form to send to their parents. He wouldn't use the spell on them without parental approval, since it involved entering the students mind. With about 10 min. left in class he called Harry forward, "I will demonstrate the spell on Harry since we have not gotten the permission forms yet." HE told the class as Harry took out his wand.

Before they started on of the Slytherins asked loudly, "How come he gets to do it without signing the form?" Remus smiled, he was surprised the news of him adopting Harry wasn't common knowledge. He looked to Harry, letting him explain if he wanted.

"Professor Lupin is my father, he adopted me this summer." Harry told the class, "He was friends with my parents before they died and after the death of my godfather last year he took over the role as my guardian." The class did not know how to respond to that information and kept silent to watch the demonstration. Remus had explained how all your memories go wising by like and open book to the one performing the spell, unless you learned occlumency and could block it out.

Harry knew his occlumency lessons were supposed to be secret so he did not try and close his mind, he trusted Remus. As soon as Remus said the spell, images flashed before him most involving him kissing Ginny. Harry could feel himself blushing and said "stop" out loud. That was the keyword for Remus that he couldn't handle any more, when in reality he didn't want his dad to see all his snog secession with Ginny. Harry knew he was still blushing furiously.

"The memories you want to keep hidden are usually the ones that surface the most often," Remus explained. "As you can see Harry is embarrassed that I saw something he didn't want me seeing." Some of the girls giggled. "Embarrassment is only a small portion of what you would feel if all your deepest secrets were revealed. How many of you have things about your lives that you would rather keep secret? Occlumency is a very hard skill to learn, it takes much practice and dedication. If you want to learn it you will have to take additional classes after graduation at a wizarding college. It takes a very powerful wizard to successfully navigate the chaos of a person's mind and pick out the information he or she desires, but anyone can attempt access such as I did with Harry."

The class ended and Remus asked him to stay behind. He told Ron to go to dinner without him; he didn't know how long it would be. He had a feeling he was going to have to discuss his and Ginny's relationship and that could take a while. Ron gave him a pitting look before leaving the room; he figured it was something to do with what Remus saw in Harry's thoughts.

Harry arrived at dinner about 30 min later to find Ron, Hermoine and Ginny still eating. He sat next to Ron. "So what was that about?" He asked seeing Harry's flushed and embarrassed face.

"He gave me the father son sex talk," he told his friends who started laughing at his misfortune, "I always thought I'd get out of that one."

"What did you do or what did he see to bring on the 'talk'?" Ron asked trying to suppress his giggles. Remus must have seen something good.

"He saw me kissing my girlfriend," Harry said quietly. He didn't know what else to tell them, so the truth seemed the best method, he would just not tell them who it was. Ginny almost choked on her mashed potatoes when Harry told them he had a girlfriend. Ron looked at her, realizing she must still like Harry a little to get upset by him dating someone.

"Girlfriend?" Ginny squeaked out, she hoped Harry knew what he was doing. If Ron somehow figured out it was her, it could be bad news. Harry just nodded and smiled at the look Gin was giving him, she was so going to kick his ass later.

"Why didn't you tell us? Who is she?" Ron asked grinning, Harry had told him he liked someone, he just didn't know he got the guts to do something about it.

"It's a secret," Harry said smiling, "We don't want anyone to interfere and her family is very protective of her, they would never approve of her dating."

"Why not? You're Harry Potter; you are like the safest person she could date!" Ron asked sounding incredulous, "I say if she likes you, she shouldn't let her family stop you from seeing each other."

"Is that so Ron?" Ginny said bringing her rose up to her lips and feeling the electricity again. She loved how that made Ron upset, it was so funny.

"You're too young to date Ginny; Harry's older, more mature." Ron said firmly.

"He's only a year older than her Ron," Hermoine said smiling; "Besides we don't even know what year this girl he's seeing is in, she could be younger." Ron looked to Harry to help him out, Harry just shrugged.

"Sorry, I'm not giving you any information, not even what house she's in" Harry said grinning; he was going to enjoy this little game for a while. "I'm even meeting her tonight for a bit of snogging." Ginny one again choked on her food. Harry had just invited her to meet him for a late night snog!

"Harry Potter!" Hermoine scolded, "A relationship is about much more than snogging!"

"I know that, if I never kissed her the rest of the year I would still like her, even though I do enjoy the snogging. She is a very good kisser." Harry said watching Ginny spit out a little bit of her pumpkin juice. Ron decided to change the subject. Ginny still seemed stuck on him, too bad he liked another girl. He always thought that Ginny and Harry should be together, that was why he gave her such a hard time about boyfriends.

Chapter 14: Secrets Revealed

The first few weeks of classes raced by and soon it was time for Quidditch tryouts. Ron and Harry spent lunch and dinner taking about nothing else. Ginny was trying to listen as they discussed potential chasers. They all went down to the pitch for tryouts. They would need two new beaters, the ones from last year quit, and two new chasers. Harry and Ron decided that Ginny got one of the spots without needing to try out; Ron had seen her play enough to know she was good.

Harry noticed Malfoy in the stands watching the potential Gryffindor players. He was the new captain of the Slytherin team and Harry couldn't wait to beat him again. Draco had come out to the pitch under ruse of spying on their potential team, but in reality he wanted to see the pretty little red head again. She looked great on a broom with her hair fanning out behind her like a mane. She was very good, could fly circles around those trying out for the other chaser positions. Draco knew she was even better than his chasers, the only positions he needed filled were beaters and Crabbe and Goyle would probably get them just for sheer size and brute strength. A bludger hit by them could kill someone.

Ginny tried to pretend she didn't see the Slytherin Prince watching her every move, it was quite unnerving. Tonks had been telling her how he was turning into a good person, but she still didn't want him staring at her. Harry and Ron stayed in the locker rooms discussing who should be on the team so she decided to take a walk around the lake. She was watching the giant squid and bumped into someone, again.

"Little Weasley we need to stop meeting this way," Draco said helping he from the ground like he had on the train. Ginny didn't know what to say to him, she didn't want to start a fight with no body around to help her if she got into trouble.

Ginny couldn't hold back her tongue, she was too much like the twins, and she just had to say the first thing that popped into her head. "And how would you rather us meet Malfoy?" She asked with a sassy tone that Draco found incredibly sexy.

"I would meet a beautiful girl like you anywhere you asked me to," He said before he could help himself. His natural reaction was to charm women, even if he was seeing someone. Damn it, how did he always forget Amanda when he was talking to the red head?

"I'm not accustomed to hanging out with dragons, they tend to breathe fire when leas expected." Ginny said making it clear to him that she did not trust him. "Besides, I am rather fond of phoenixes and you have a girlfriend."

Draco smiled at her referring to him as a dragon and he knew her secret admirer called himself the phoenix, but what really threw him off was her mentioning he had a girlfriend. Potter must have told her about him and Amanda. "Good day little Weasley." Draco said and walked off leaving her by the lake.

Ginny went back to the castle to find Tonks; she wanted her opinion of the whole matter. She knocked on her door and was surprised when Remus answered it. "Hello Ginny," he said with a smile and led her into the room, he excused himself and left the girls to talk. "We need to be careful Ginny, he is so close to taking the final steps over to our side, I'm afraid if he finds out about you and Harry he'll turn back to evil. Harry and he are rivals, now it seems they are rivals for your affections as well." Tonks told her.

"I better not tell Harry, he'll get Ron and we'll be picking up pieces of Malfoy all over the castle." Ginny said shaking her head. "He better not try anything or he's going to be seriously hurting, I am very good at my bat bogey hex. Last time I hit him with it he was in the hospital wing!"

Remus came back in with a frown after Ginny left. "This is going to end badly."

"Why do you think that?" Tonks asked intrigued, he was usually a positive guy.

"The same type of thing happened when I was in school. Didn't you ever wonder why Severus hates Harry so much? He's the spitting image of James who won Lily's heart. James and he were a lot like Malfoy, except James took it a step further, he enjoyed humiliating Severus. Lily hated the way the boys acted; she would scream at James for being such a jerk and would try and defend Snape. Snape started to like Lily, even though he didn't show it since she wasn't a pureblood, or so he thought. He finally got the guts to tell her he liked her but she had already fallen for James." Remus told her.

"They became bitter rivals after that, in effect pushing Severus to join the death eaters. He hated Voldemort though and started consulting with Dumbledore on what to do. He still hated James, especially since he and Lily had Harry. I don't think he would have come back to our side if it hadn't been for her. When Voldemort ordered the Potters killed he came straight to Dumbledore to warn him. He still blames himself for not realizing about Peter or Sirius as we thought, was a death eater. That was what drove him to flip sides and play informant." Tonks sat in silence, that made Snape's actions make much more sense.

An owl flew through the window and dropped a letter in her lap with the Malfoy seal. She opened it wondering what Draco was going to say. He was writing to tell her he was struggling to define himself. He was a totally new person when he was with her but at school he is still expected and treated like the same person he was. He didn't know how to mesh the two personas. He told her he has stopped insulting the Gryffindors. Then he told her that Remus was his professor again and assured her that he was behaving and that he realized what she had seen in him. Tonks handed Remus the letter smiling.

"I notice he doesn't mention anything about Ginny," She giggled. Remus laughed and captured her lips in a tender kiss. "But then I am gorgeous!" She squeaked out as he started chasing her around the room.

Ginny had to help Professor Snape that afternoon brew some potions for Madame Pompfrey, as much as Snape hated to admit it she was one of the best potions students he had ever had. Ginny was upset she had to spend the afternoon with Snape but at least she was getting extra credit. Ginny opened the door to the potions classroom and saw Draco Malfoy standing near a row of caldrons along with Professor Snape. He showed them how to do the potion and left them to make as much as possible.

Ginny couldn't believe she had to spend the entire afternoon alone with him. They got to work on the potions right away. Draco was actually very polite to her. "Could you pass me the farie tears please little Weasley?"

Ginny laughed and handed him the ingredient, "Do you even know my name?" He always called her little Weasley; she figured he never took the time to learn it.

"Your name is Virginia," He said smiling, Ginny was shocked she had never seen him smile.

"It's Ginny; I'm only Virginia when I get in trouble." She told him.

"You get in trouble? I can't imagine the minister's daughter getting punished." Draco said wondering what this perfect girl could do to get in trouble.

Ginny giggled, "I take after my twin brothers, and they always talked me into pulling pranks. I never get punished too badly being the only girl and the youngest they don't know what to do when I fake cry."

"I get whatever I want being the only child, but I'm also expected to be the perfect Malfoy child." Draco told her. "My father is quite demanding, and he gets very upset if I do something he doesn't approve of." He shuddered at the memory.

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked surprised the spoiled boy would ever not get his way. "What wouldn't he approve of and what would he do to you?"  
"Talking to you for one," Draco said softly, "Or anyone who associated with muggles and mud-bloods. Although he may be ok with it since your father is minister, I could always tell him I was using you to gain favor with the ministry. But if he saw me be nice to Granger he'd most likely use the Crusacious curse on me to teach me a lesson."

Ginny looked wide eyed at him, "your father has used an unforgivable curse on you? I always figured you for a spoiled brat, how did you cope with that?"

Draco shrugged, "it was easy, I just did exactly what he said, got into Slytherin like planned and became the heartless prick you all know and hate." He sighed, he liked talking to people like her, and he wished Amanda was around to talk to as well.

"What made you drop your icy façade and stop listening to him?" She asked.

"He's in Azkaban and now I'm getting old enough to really question his beliefs. I don't understand why he follows the Dark Lord. I don't ever want to be a death eater. I am my own person, and I guess I realized that if I keep listening to him I'll be miserable all my life." Draco said. "They want me to marry a pure blood like Parkinson; I can't imagine being with someone I can't stand just because of their blood line. Being a pure blood doesn't make you a better wizard, look at Granger she got top marks and she's a muggle born!"

Ginny just stared at him in awe, Tonks was right he was different. "Malfoy, can you pass me the powdered rat spleen please," she asked pointing to a vial next to him.

"You can call me Draco if you like or anything really. I hate how everyone spits my name out like its poison. I'm sorry for talking your ear off, I just don't have anyone in my house I can talk to about this stuff and Amanda is the only other person I have to talk about this with and she's not here." He smiled and handed her the rat spleen.

"That's all right, I don't mind. It makes the potion making go faster and there isn't the awkward and tense silence." She told him. They talked for another hour about school and Quidditch. He was very knowledgeable about everything; she had never taken him for being smart. Professor Snape came back in to check their progress; he even seemed pleased with the quantity of potion they were turning out. They were working in silence while Snape sat at his desk.

"Hey Red pass me the dried tube grubs," Draco smiled at her; he liked his new nickname for her. He didn't like the name Ginny, he would rather call her Virginia, but if she didn't like it she could be Red.

"Here you are Dragon," Ginny said, if he was going to call her Red she was sure as hell not going to call him Draco. He smiled at the name, he liked how that sounded. They finished the potions right before dinner, cleaned up and headed out of the dungeons toward the great hall. Snape had told them to be there at the same time next week for another batch of medical potions.

Ginny sat down next to Harry. "Did you just walk in with Malfoy?" Ron asked.

"He was the other potions student picked to help make the medical potions; we just left Snape's room and came to dinner." Ginny said calmly. She saw the concerned looks on her friends faces, "Don't worry he actually behaved and was nice to me."

"Malfoy was nice? Has hell frozen over?" Ron grumbled.

"I think Tonks might be right about him changing, he told me some things about how he grew up that make Harry's uncle look like a saint." Ginny said as Harry looked at her with a questioning look. "I'll tell you about it later when no one else is around."

They finished dinner and Ginny headed up to the library to do her homework. Harry and Ron were going to decide on the Quidditch team and Hermoine was going to help McGonagall with something. Ginny sat down to finish her star chart for astronomy, she had class Monday night and didn't want to wait until the night before, and she was horrible at it anyway. She was seated at the very back table hidden behind rows of books, her favorite spot where she could study in peace. She barely noticed when someone approached and sat down across from her.

"That's not the right position for Mars," Draco said startling her. She looked up to see him sitting across from her smirking. "In fact you have a lot of them in the wrong position. Do you want me to look it over; I got the highest score on my OWL. I even beat Granger." She pushed her paper to him; she never turned down astronomy help. He showed her the ones that were wrong and showed her how she miscalculated the angles.

"Thanks," she told him as she started the corrections. "What are you doing in here?" She rarely ever saw him in the library or even more without his goons.

"I followed you," Draco said simply, smiling at the look between curiosity and annoyance playing on her pretty face.

"Why would you do that?" Ginny said hoping he wasn't going to do something horrible to her; maybe he had just been acting before.

"I wanted to see you again." He told her, "You are beautiful and we had a good time talking today."

"Thank you, I enjoyed taking to you as well, I think we might be able to be friends." She said, not liking where the conversation was going. Harry would murder him if he saw how he was looking at her, Ron as well.

"I want to be your friend as well. I don't have many real friends, just Slytherins whose parents tell them to be friends with me." He said still drinking in her beauty. "I was hoping we might be more than just friends."

"Draco," She said hoping he wouldn't explode and turn back into his old self. "You have a girlfriend."

"And even if I didn't you still would only want to be friends," Draco said reading it on her face. He had never expected her to like him, he just couldn't help himself. It was odd, he had never had a girl say no to him and yet he known she would before he asked. He just had to try.

"I'm in love with someone else." Ginny said quietly.

"Your secret admirer?" Draco asked watching as she nodded her head. "Would you believe me if I told you I was him?"

"I know who it is. He sends me the notes because my brother Ron doesn't want me to date anyone." Ginny said not wanting to lie to him. "I do still want to be your friend."

"Even though you know I like you and am willing to break up with a wonderful woman just to have you for one day?" He asked she was too good a person to waste her time being friends with him; she deserved someone like Potter who was perfect too.

"Yes, but I think you should be honest with Amanda, it's not nice to date someone if you think about someone else." Ginny said hoping to free Tonks of him. "She might want to stay friends with you too if you two were not too involved." She shuddered thinking about him being intimate with her friend.

"Don't worry Red; we were not intimate as you call it. You might be surprised to find that I'm much less experienced than you might think." He told her.

"There is nothing wrong with being inexperienced, I think someone should wait until they are truly in love before getting physically involved. I am planning on waiting until I'm married, or at least engaged." Ginny said blushing; she couldn't believe she was having this conversation with him.

Draco leaned closer so he could not be overheard before whispering, "I have the same plan." Ginny looked at him shocked. The girls around school all bragged about their nights with the Slytherin Prince yet he was still a virgin. Girls gossiped too much. He looked at his watch and noticed he had prefect rounds. "I have to go; it was nice talking with you Red." He said standing.

"Have a good night Dragon, thanks for the help with astronomy." She said also packing up to go back to the common room. She wanted to see who made the Quidditch team and tell Hermoine what just happened.

Harry and Ron posted the Quidditch team roster and hurried into their room to avoid having to see disappointed people. The new beaters were the Creevy brothers. Harry had expected them to be a disaster but they had amazing aim and could almost predict the other's movements. The other chasers were Dean and Seamus; Harry couldn't understand why they never tried out before.

When Harry and Ron emerged about a half hour later the four new players, Neville, Pavarti and Lavender were all hanging out laughing and having a good time with Ginny and Hermoine. Harry headed quickly down to the kitchen and sent a house elf out to get a couple cases of Butterbeer and Honeyduke's sweets. They were going to have a party for the new team members!

They moved the beds in Harry and Ron's room to the side and Hermoine and Harry transfigured the small carpet into a lush large shag carpet for them all to hang out on. They had a good time laughing and reminiscing. "Hey we should play truth or dare!" Dean said grinning, "Or spin the bottle or I've Never."

"Yes! Let's play a game!" Pavarti squealed sitting down on the rug. "What's I've Never?"

"You say something you've never done and then anyone who has done it has to take a drink." Dean said, "It's a drinking game. You say something that you know someone has done or you think they have done, you have to tell the truth and drink if you've done it."

"Sounds fun, let's play." Harry said sitting down next to Pavarti, they all sat in a circle, and Ginny sat on his other side. "Dean you can start since it was your idea to play."

"Ok, I've never slapped someone in the face." He said grinning at Hermione who he remembered slapping Malfoy back in 3rd year. Lavender was next to him and she grinned at took a drink, Hermoine did as well as Pavarti. The girls all smiled.

Lavender was next, "I've never snuck out to go snog someone." Hermoine and Ron both drank. Harry laughed at his friends' guilty look. Ginny took a drink and Hermoine had to hold Ron back. "What? Who have you gone off to snog?" She just smiled and shook her head at her brother. Harry quickly took a drink which made both Pavarti and Lavender giggle. Dean was the only other one to drink.

Seamus winked at Harry before saying, "I've never had a secret girlfriend or boyfriend." They all knew about Harry's secret girl.

Hermoine drank, mumbling something about Krum then Ginny drank again Ron looking at her sternly. Harry grinned as he drank; Ron was such a git sometimes. Neville was next and he said, "I've never kissed anyone other than my family." He seemed sad about that fact but he wanted to see if anyone else was behind when it came to girls.

The only one who drank was Dennis Creevy; he was younger than all of them so it wasn't surprising. Hermoine was next and she said, "I've never failed a class." They all laughed and all drank except for Ginny, Colin and Dennis who hadn't taken their OWLs.

Ron was trying to figure out a way to get his sister, "I've never lie to Ron about knowing who Ginny's secret admirer was." Ginny looked quickly to Harry who wished Ron hadn't said that one. Ginny smiled sweetly at Ron and took a long sip of her Butterbeer. Ron glared and was about to say something mean to her when he saw Harry drink as well as Hermoine. He just stared at his friends. "Why did you lie to me?"

"We knew how protective you are of Ginny," Hermoine said, "We didn't want you to be upset."

"Harry you are just as protective as I am, how come you are fine with this?" Ron asked his best friend, he couldn't believe they had all lied.

"He is very good to her and she seems to like him, so I figured it was ok," Harry said trying to be as vague as possible without outright lying to his mate.

Dennis Creevy looked scared to talk; he managed to say, "I've never got a detention before." They all seemed impressed with that fact; Snape was notorious for giving Gryffindors detention. They all had to drink. Dennis laughed.

Colin said, "I've never been in love." He watched as Ginny drank blushing. Harry also drank as well as Hermoine and Ron and surprisingly Neville.

It was Ginny's turn and she didn't have any idea what to ask, she decided to say "I've never been caught out of bed after hours." It was all she could think of, she was starting to feel the effects of too much Butterbeer. It was fine in small doses but she was on her 7th bottle! Harry, Ron and Neville all drank.

Harry wanted to think of something good, "I've never had a crush on one of my professors." He knew the girls all had liked Lockhart. They all drank and so did Seamus who smiled and told them he thought Tonks was hot. Pavarti told them she had never lie to her sibling, and Harry Hermoine and Neville were the only ones who didn't drink since they were only children.

"That was fun, let's play truth or dare or spin the bottle now!" Dean said since they had gotten all the way around the circle. They decided on truth or dare. Dean dared Seamus to lick the bottom of his shoe; Seamus dared Neville to go to DADA with pink hair like Tonks. Neville asked Ginny if she was still in love with Harry even though she had a boyfriend. Ginny blushed and looked at Ron who was just as curious as Neville. Ginny knew she had to tell the truth so she simply said yes and pretended she was afraid to look at Harry.

Ginny asked Ron if there was anyone he would ever approve of her dating. Ron looked at her and smiled. "Yes, there is one person that I know even mum and dad would approve of."

Ginny looked at him excitedly, "So who is it?"

"Sorry, you didn't ask that in the original question," he laughed at she jumped up to fake strangle him. He laughed and pushed her off. Once they all calmed down again he asked Harry, "How serious are you about this girl of yours, do you just think she's hot, do you love her, where do you think its going?"

"I'm 100 in love with her. She is the most amazing person I've ever met. I know we're young but I want to spend the rest of my life with her." Harry said honestly. Ginny had burst into tears at how strongly Harry felt about her, she had never felt so happy. Ron stood up and dragged his best friend into the corner of the room.

"What were you thinking saying that in front of Ginny? Look how upset she is, you could have just said you liked the girl. I know you're in love, but don't you care how Ginny feels?" Ron said trying to be quiet but everyone was quiet enough to hear it all.

"I just answered the question, what does it matter anyways, you wouldn't let her date me. I'm didn't mean to make her cry I was just being honest." Harry told Ron.

"You are who I was telling Ginny I would approve of her dating Harry. I know our parents would be proud to have their only daughter date you." Ron said shocking Harry. Ron had just given him permission to date Ginny!

"Are you serious? You're telling me that if walked over there right now and kissed her you would be fine with it." Harry said with a smile, trying not to show his joy in case Ron wasn't serious.

"Yes, I'd be happy for her, but I don't think your girlfriend would mind. And if you hurt her just to prove a point I'd have to kill you even if you are my best mate." Ron said not finding it funny that Harry would joke about his sister.

Harry grabbed Ron in a hug and ran to Ginny spinning her around. "Did you hear that?" He laughed as she giggled and wrapped her arms around him. She pulled him into a deep kiss before he put her down.

"Hey Ron I think I should introduce you to my admirer," Ginny said laughing at the shocked look on her brothers face. Ron didn't know what to make of it, Harry's secret girlfriend was Ginny. This was huge! "We got together over the summer." Everyone was laughing now, they were happy for their friends. Ginny and Harry were just happy they didn't have to hide their relationship anymore.

Draco was sitting in his room trying to write a break up letter to Amanda. He couldn't keep his mind off Virginia and he didn't think it was fair to Amanda to keep it from her. He was just hoping he wouldn't get a howler the next morning after she got the letter. He hated having others see his emotions and if it said anything about Ginny her would curl up and die. He had to tell her the entire truth so that they could stay friends.

The next day the talk of the school was that Harry and Ginny had been secretly seeing each other since the summer. "Figures that Potter gets the only girl worth dating in this school," Draco moaned to himself after hearing the rumors. He had seen how Virginia was enamored with Harry since her 1st year and she deserved to be happy. She was the nicest most beautiful girl in the school. She deserved a boyfriend like Saint Potter who would respect her and not end up hurting her like he would have most likely ended up doing.

Remus and Tonks were happy for the two lovebirds. "Now if we could only finish up with this whole Malfoy thing, we can actually start dating." Remus said taking her in his arms. They were hanging out in her rooms planning their next week's lessons, it was their Sunday tradition. Draco's owl flew in with a letter for Amanda.

"He's breaking up with me!" Tonks said happily. "It seems he values our friendship too much to not tell me that he has feelings for another girl. Even though he knows she doesn't like him and they are just friends he thinks about her and she has filled his heart. He tells me that my friendship is the most important thing to him and that he wanted to be honest with me since I've always been honest with him. Well that makes me feel bad since our whole relationship was based upon a lie." Tonks said handing the letter to Remus so he could read it.

"How are you going to respond, we still want to bring him to our side, you'll have to say that you would like to be just friends." Remus said with a shrug. They talked with Dumbledore about it and they agreed that she would have to write back that she understood and that she hoped everything worked out for him.

Draco was sitting at the Slytherin table with a sour look on his face; he had just seen Potter kiss Virginia and it made him jealous. Imagine that, a Malfoy jealous? He was also worried about Amanda's response; he prayed it wasn't a howler. Everyone in the great hall gasped as they saw the owl enter with the red howler envelope, most hoping it wasn't being delivered to them. Draco saw it and knew it was for him. He reached out and took the letter form the bird; he knew it would come to this.

Ginny watched as the letter landed before Draco, he looked like he even expected it. She wondered what he did to deserve a howler, and who would send a Malfoy one? Didn't they know that was suicidal?

Draco opened the letter expecting the worst, but no sound came out, the letter didn't say anything. He read the first line; it read "Got you! You so expected a howler I just couldn't resist. But since I know you despise public displays of emotion I resisted. I am glad we can remain friends. We both know that as much as we enjoyed each other's company, there was never any spark between us. I wanted you to know that I value your friendship as well. Good luck with the girl. Amanda" Draco laughed, she was good. That was one of the funniest pranks he had had pulled on him. Fake howlers were a good gag. He grinned and returned to his breakfast, ignoring the curious stares he was getting from around the hall.

Ginny looked up at Tonks who was shaking with silent laughter and realized who the fake howler was from. Draco must have done something or said something to Amanda and that was why he didn't look surprised at the Howler. She would have to have Tonks sell her idea to Fred and George. It would be a great idea for the joke shop. She caught Malfoy's eye on the way out and gave a quick smile. She just hoped he would still be nice to Harry now that he knew they were together.


	2. Chapters 16 through 28

Harry Potter and the Unlikely Alliances

Chapter 16: Growing Powers

Harry decided that it was time to have the first DA meeting. He had Hermoine spread the word that they would be meeting in the DADA classroom at 6:30 pm on Monday night. He had planned to review most of what they learned last year as a refresher. Remus had told him he could use the classroom for the first meeting until they decided how often to meet and where to hold it at.

Harry was surprised by the turnout. The group had doubled in size since last year. The only ones not there were those who graduated and Cho's friend Marietta who had ratted on them to Umbridge. "Today we are going to review everything we learned last year. Those of you who are new to the DA need to sign the sheet Hermoine is passing around. We are still going to try and maintain secrecy with this club, even though we have the support of the school this year. You can bring others who you believe to be trustworthy and willing to work hard." Harry told them all. He was surprised he was commanding that much attention with such a large group. He set them into pairs and he worked with Neville, who no one else wanted to work with.

"We will start with disarming and protecting. I want you to take turns trying to disarm each other, once you can both do it successfully I want the other one of you to try and cast 'protego' and block the spell." The ones who were in DA had no problem with the disarming spell, even Neville summoned Harry's wand on the first try. Most could cast the protego charm as well. "Remember that the more powerful the spell the easier it is to break through your defenses. Watch Neville and me."

Harry told Neville to cast protego and he aimed a low powered disarming spell at him, Neville could keep his wand. "Now watch as I increase the power to the spell." Harry sent a medium powered spell at him and Neville had to struggle to hang onto his wand. "Now I'll give it more power." Harry said the spell again and Neville's wand came soaring to him. "When you fight dark wizards they will not be taking it easy on you, they will come at you with everything they have got. Just because they can do all kinds of complex spells, don't think you can't win by protecting yourself and using your simple spells. Now you all try it again and see if you can break through each others protection."

Harry sent Neville to work with Ron and Hermoine and he wandered around the room giving advice to the rest of the club. They covered the rest of what they had learned last year and Harry told those who were behind to try and practice. He told them he had been planning out lessons and was excited about some spells he found over the summer. They decided to meet on Wednesdays after dinner, that way they could have Quidditch practice before dinner and still get to DA meetings. Hermoine handed out the fake gallons to the new members and told them how to work them.

Harry held Neville, Luna, Ginny, the Creevys, Justin and Hannah from Hufflepuff, Ron and Hermoine back after the rest of the club left. "I want to start a smaller club to learn even more complex spells; I was thinking we could meet on Mondays or Thursdays. I might even ask Lupin and Tonks to help us. Would you guys be interested?" Harry asked them. "I want this to be a group of people we all trust would never betray the things we learn and would stand and fight instead of run scared incase the death eaters attack."

They all agreed to join and decided that Monday was a good night to meet in the Room of Requirement. He told them they would be perfecting their patronus and moving on to even more difficult protective magic before learning the complex offensive spells. It was only 8pm and they decided to practice for another hour, they worked on their patronus' again, they were all very strong, even Neville's. Harry showed them a few of the spells that he had read about over the summer. One was an even stronger protection charm and another was a spell that protected those around you as well. He cast the charm while standing near to the group and had Ron shoot disarming spells at them, the shield held. He then showed them the charm to mute a person and the one to tie the person up in bonds they could not appararte through or change forms, just in case they were anamagi.

Harry slept very well that night with a feeling of accomplishment in all his friends were able to learn. He would have to thank Remus for the books; of course the dark magic books at home had helped as well. Now Harry could recognize many more spells and know how to defend himself. The next lesson he had planned was to tell them all about the spell that Hermoine had been hit with last year and how to defend themselves. It was a very dangerous spell that could have killed her; luckily the blocking spell he had taught them would be quite effective. There were specific blocking spells for a lot of the very bad spells the death eaters would use and he was determined they learned every one.

The next morning Remus told him Dumbledore wanted to speak with him and that he should go see the headmaster rather than come to class since he was still covering Occlumency. As Harry approached the statue to Dumbledore's office he realized he didn't know the password. He decided to test his powers and said, "open." The statue moved aside and let him ride the ascending staircase. He still was getting used to his powers, but it was interesting that he could get through any secret door or passageway without the password.

"Good morning Harry, have a seat." Dumbledore said as he entered, "I am pleased to hear the DA is going well. Have you picked out a name for your little core group yet?"

Harry smiled, he really did know everything that went on in the castle, "No sir, I'm not sure we need one, it's kind of like a Jr. Order, they are the ones I trust the most in the castle and know will fight for our side."

"The reason I called you here today is to inform you that you will be studying to become and anamagi with Professors McGonagall and Tonks. I have discussed this matter with the minister and he has agreed that you be granted the leave to become and unregistered anamagi." The headmaster told him with smiling.

"May I ask why?" Harry said, he had wanted to look into becoming an anamagi but he didn't like the idea of being registered.

"I feel it will be another asset you can use against Voldemort," Dumbledore said simply. "It will also help you when you become and auror, they study anamagi during training."

"When do I start?" He asked with a smile, he knew he would have no problem with the process if both McGonagall and Tonks were helping him.

"Thursdays after Transfiguration, just stay after class." Dumbledore said with eyes twinkling. "Also tell the others there will be an Order meeting here in my office at 9pm on Thursday." Fawks had flown over to him while Dumbledore had been talking.

"Is it rare to become a phoenix anamagi like Fawks here?" Harry asked, "Ang how does it work, does it mean you life forever or only your anamagi form?"

"It is said to be impossible to turn into a phoenix anamagi, but you and I are one of the only ones that know that is not true. Yes, he lives forever as Fawks, but when his human body died he was reborn from the ashes as Fawks and can never change back into a man. He is still partially aware that he was once human making him the smartest phoenix to ever have existed. Phoenix are intelligent as is, when they have the mind of one of the greatest wizards it becomes more intelligent than all other magical creatures."

"There is a prophesy that states that Gryffindor's true heir will take flight on the wings of a phoenix and will be a greater and more powerful wizard than the four Hogwarts founders combined." Dumbledore told him, "Most believe the prophesy means he will ride on a phoenix but it actually means he will be the phoenix."

"How long ago was the prophesy made and why are we not taught it in school?" Harry asked him curious.

"The prophesy was made about 200 years ago and shortly afterwards they discovered a descendent of Gryffindor. The prophesy is taught in history of magic late in sixth year, I believe it too significant to be taught younger. The true heir will be the most powerful wizard ever to walk the earth." The headmaster told him with his eyes sparking. "He will have powers that he himself doesn't even know."

"Will he be good like Gryffindor? What if he turns to evil like Voldemort?" Harry asked, "I always heard that power corrupts but absolute power corrupts absolutely."

"That phrase hold true for most wizards but I have faith that the heir will overcome. He will not turn to evil, his heart is too pure." The old man told him. Harry headed back to classes, he only had 10 min of DADA left so he headed for charms, Ginny had class before and he wanted to say hello.

"Hello beautiful," He said as he saw her, she hugged him and gave him a kiss before she headed off to her next class. When Harry entered the room professor Flitwick was standing on top of a ladder and charming a bucket of water from the ceiling. He sat down and had just taken out his wand when Flitwick fell from the ladder. Harry didn't even think, he just pointed his wand at his professor willing him not to fall.

What happened next startled him. Flitwick froze in mid fall an inch or two before his head would have slammed his head into his desk. Harry moved his wand to the side and guided Flitwick down to the floor, all without uttering a word. Flitwick stared at him for a long time before finally being able to speak. "That was a very good show of power Mr. Potter; may I ask where you learned that?" The little man was still slightly shaken from his near miss with his desk.

"I'm not sure what happened professor, I saw you fall and I just remember moving my wand toward you and thinking I didn't want you to fall. Then you just stopped falling and moved you around with my wand, thinking that I wanted you to descend slowly to the floor." Harry said confused at what had happened, that had been powerful magic. When he had fallen from his broom Dumbledore could only slow him down, not stop him completely. The class walked in then keeping him form being questioned further.

They were learning how to charm quills to write for themselves whatever they heard, like the quick quotes quill Rita Skeeter had used. It was a complex charm and would take them a few days to master it. Harry read the instructions and practiced the arm movement and then concentrated on the spell and cast it on his quill. Professor Flitwick came rushing over to Harry the boys quill poised itself on his parchment and started writing. "Well done Mr. Potter, 10 points to Gryffindor that is the fastest I have ever seen anyone master that spell."

He pulled Harry over to a corner of the room and handed Harry a feather. "Think about levitating this feather." The little man told him, "I have a feeling your powers are expanding." Harry focused on the feather and imagined it floating to the ceiling and the feather then left his hand and floated up. "Very good Harry, you have just accomplished wand-less magic. I want you to take this to Professor Dumbledore; he will want to see this." He handed him a quick not and Harry grabbed his bag and made his way to the headmaster's office for the second time that day.

Dumbledore seemed pleased with the note and had Harry show him. He then told him to sit down. "Now Harry, I want you to come up here every Friday at 2:30 and we will practice wand-less magic. It is a very rare talent that only the most talented and powerful wizards' master. It usually takes years and years of practice to master such a thing. The spell you used to stop professor Flitwick from falling is very complex and difficult to cast, even under the best conditions. It is amazing that you were able to cast it at such a critical moment. He suspected that you were able to do wand-less magic and by having your wand in your hand you magnified your thoughts enough to stop his fall."

"I cast lumos without my wand the summer before 5th year when the Dementors were attacking my cousin. I couldn't find my wand and it was too dark to see so I just said lumos and my wand lit up about 2 feet from me." Harry told him.

"We will need to keep this ability quiet as well; we don't want the Death Eaters to find out. I'll see you on Friday." He said as Harry went down to the great hall to wait for his friends. He had never thought about wand-less magic before. He had done an essay on it for Professor Flitwick last year and new how rare an ability it was. It was something only very powerful wizards could do and it usually took years and years of practice. He would have to make sure he used his wand, even if it was just for show. It would be a very powerful weapon against Voldemort and he didn't wand word of it to get out.

He waited in the great hall for class to end so he could talk to his friends; they would be worried about why Flitwick had sent him out of class. "Harry! I was so worried, are you all right?" Hermoine gushed when she saw him, even Ron looked a bit nervous.

"Yeah, it's no big deal, since I finished my assignment Professor Flitwick sent me to speak to Dumbledore in his office about some extra classes to ready me for the final battle." Harry said just leaving out the other parts until they were alone. They ate and he and Ron discussed Quidditch.

Harry told them everything he had learned about that day as well as about his extra lessons. "I have anamagi training on Thursdays after class and special lesions with Dumbledore on Fridays after class for wand-less magic training, plus I still have Occlumency with Snape on Tuesdays and Quidditch on Mondays and Wednesdays after class and DA after dinner." He sighed thinking about the extra work he was going to have to do.

"At least you seem to be picking up your class work easily, that charm you did today should have at least taken you a day to learn and you had it done in less than 15 min. Professor Flitwick told the class that you must have been studying hard over the summer just to cover for the fact that it was almost impossible that you did it so fast." Hermoine told him, "And you have been doing the best in most of our other classes as well. You are the point leader for Gryffindor and you haven't even played Quidditch yet."

"We better head down to Herbologry, I don't wand to be late." He told them, kissing Ginny good bye and shouldering his bag before heading downstairs. He had brought his pensive but decided not to use it for Occlumency since the entire school knew of his and Ginny's relationship now.

He sprinted to Snape's classroom to make it on time; it had taken him a while to clean the dirt off his robes. He cleared his mind and had his wand ready before opening the door. It was a good thing, as soon as he had walked through the door Snape had started, just to try and catch him off guard.

It took Snape almost 10 minutes to break through the barrier of Harry's mind and only about 30 seconds for Harry to throw him out. Snape looked impressed; he had definitely improved since their last lesson. Harry was usually winded after Snape had probed his mind, but he felt fine and already had his barrier back in place at full strength. In fact it was Snape who looked tired at the strain of breaking through.

Harry saw Snape raise his wand and mutter the spell. "No!" Harry though forcefully and Snape's efforts stopped abruptly. Harry's mind was now impenetrable.

"Impossible!" Snape said taking a step backwards, "Where did you learn that?"

"I just decided I didn't even want you to attempt access to my mind, and then you couldn't get in." Harry shrugged.

"The level of magic needed to perform such a spell is way beyond you Potter, how is it possible that you used it?" Snape seemed to be talking more to himself than Harry. How could just a boy be able to perform a spell that almost all grown wizards were incapable of?" Snape thought to himself.

"I don't know sir, perhaps it was and accident. I'm sure that if most grown wizards cannot perform it, it must have been a mistake." Harry said, watching Snape's eyes get huge and him back away from Harry. Harry had heard Snape's thoughts clear as day and didn't realize they were thoughts, he thought he had spoken them out loud.

Snape started at the boy in front of him who had heard his thoughts. He decided to test it and see. "Have you been practicing every night like I instructed?" He thought.

"Yes sir, I clear my mind before sleep every night." Harry said confused as Snape gasped and tossed a handful of floo powder in the fire.

"Remus, Dumbledore, will you please join me in my office." He said still looking at Harry as if he had sprouted a second head. The other two men arrived shortly. Remus looked confusedly between Harry and Severus and Dumbledore smiling, his eyes twinkling fiercely.

"Very well done Harry, it's not many who can learn Legilimency so easily." Dumbledore sent to min through his thoughts.

"What do you mean sir?" Harry asked out loud, still unaware that he was reading thoughts. Remus looked startled that Harry had spoken to Dumbledore as if they had been in the middle of a conversation.

"It seems you have mastered the skill of Legilimency. The comment I made to you I uttered only in my mind, I never spoke. I believe that you also read on of Professor Snape's thoughts and that is why he summoned us here. Am I correct Severus?"

"Yes sir, he also learned to completely block his mind, you know what kind of magic is required for such a task." Severus said looking at him hoping for an explanation.

"It seems Harry's powers are growing. We discovered he had the power of voice earlier this summer and just today he performed wand-less magic." Dumbledore said, making Remus gasp and Snape's eyes to narrow. "He is demonstrating remarkable powers; it is now clear that Voldemort is right to fear him."

"Sir, may I ask why these powers are surfacing now?" Harry asked still confused.

"Yes Harry, these powers emerge at adulthood. You are 16, almost of age; it is only natural that some of your powers emerge now." The headmaster told him.

"Some? You think there will be more Professor?" Remus asked shocked at how powerful that would mean Harry was.

"Yes, I believe these are only the first of the powers we will see from Harry." His eyes were sparkling mischievously, so Harry knew there was more that he wasn't telling him. "No worries Harry all will be revealed when it is time. For now just be aware and report any new or strange occurrences to Remus as soon as possible."

"How shall I proceed with the Occlumency lessons sir?" Snape asked.

"Continue to train him; I think you should also teach him to control his Legilimency as well." Dumbledore said as he left. Remus decided he better stay, if Harry was going to try and access Severus' mind, bad things might happen.

Snape explained the finer points of Legilimency to Harry and put some more thoughts into his pensive. Harry took hold of his wand and aimed it at his professor before saying, "Legilimens." Harry could see the barrier Snape had put up to protect his mind and he looked for a weak spot. Finding it he concentrated on cracking the barrier. Suddenly memories from Snape's past came flooding past him. The day he got his Hogwarts letter, being sorted into Slytherin, being in class sitting next to a red headed girl that looked a lot like Ginny. He saw his father and Sirius tormenting him then the same red head came forward and broke up the fight, which was when Harry realized it was his mother. Suddenly the thoughts were gone and Snape was panting on the floor in front of him.

Snape stood and pointed his wand at Harry saying the same spell. Harry willed himself to stay strong and not allow Snape to find a weak spot. After about 15 min of trying Snape gave up and sat down panting. Harry flicked his wand and conjured a tall glass of water with lime for his professor. For some reason Harry knew that Snape drank his water with lime and that he was extremely thirsty. Snape gulped down the water.

"Professor Dumbledore is right about your power growing Potter," Snape said after finishing his water. "I could not even begin to crack your barrier. You were able to break down my defenses in only a few minutes. Even the Dark Lord has not been able to penetrate the barrier I put around my mind. I believe you will sufficiently able to protect yourself from him, however you need to hone your Legilimency skill so you can find the information you desire quickly and get out, before the person realizes you were in their mind. We will start that next week, read this book in the meantime." Snape said handing him a thick volume from his shelf.

Remus walked Harry to the great hall for dinner, with his arm around him. Thinking how proud he was of Harry and how he hoped he could learn to control all his new powers. "Don't worry Moony, I'll be ok, besides I have you here to help me." Harry said smiling and heading over to the Gryffindor table to join his friends.

He spent the rest of the night reading the book Snape had given him and finishing his astronomy homework. The star chart was simple now that he had a complete model of the solar system. Harry put his homework in his bag and left to do his prefect rounds. He had Astronomy at 10 pm so he took his bag with him as it was 9pm and his rounds took an hour. He came around the corner and saw Remus and Peeves. Peeves had a large vase raised above his head and Remus was trying to talk him out of throwing it at him, without success. Peeves was laughing and chanting, "Loony Loony Lupin."

Harry approached and yelled in his powerful and commanding voice, "Put the vase down gently Peeves, I don't want to hear of you making any trouble for Professor Lupin again. Do you understand?" Peeves nodded and set the vase back upon its pedestal, before zooming off down the corridor.

"I guess your power works on poltergeists as well," Remus said chuckling before continuing to the staff room. Harry smiled, he liked the thought that he could control Peeves; it would make sneaking out to meet Ginny a whole lot easier.

Harry and Malfoy were instructed to put all the telescopes away since they were on prefect duty. The entire class had been escorted back to the dormitories other than them. "I hear you broke up with Amanda," Harry said trying for conversation. Ginny had tried to convince him that Malfoy had changed, but he hadn't seen any evidence of it yet,

"Yes, I was having wandering eyes and it was not fair to her. She deserves someone who will treat her with the respect she deserves." Malfoy said making Harry stare in wonder, that was a very non-Malfoy statement.

"Remus treated her that way before you came along." Harry told him honestly.

"I know, I even told her she should go back to him and that I understood why he had lied to her about what he was. I told her that she was such an amazing woman and he most likely was afraid she would leave him if she knew the truth. I am sorry for ruining their relationship, but I'm not sorry for the time I spent with her. It was the best summer I've ever had." Malfoy told his rival, the one Virginia loved.

"So you have changed then?" Harry asked incredulously, "Both Ginny and Amanda insist you have, I just wouldn't believe it."

"I haven't really changed; it's just that now that you sent my father to Azkaban, I'm free to be myself. I don't have to worry about his reaction or fear his punishments anymore." Malfoy said, "I never wanted to act like I did, but it was the only way to please my father. If you knew the awful things he did" Malfoy said trailing off as memories of being beaten and tortured came to the surface of his thoughts.

Harry gasped; he had just seen images of Luscious torturing Draco, even using the Cruciatus curse on him. "I'm sorry too then Malfoy," Harry said extending his hand to him, "perhaps we should let our old rivalries die."

Draco looked for any signs of falsehood on Potters part and not finding any shook the other boy's hand. "We'll always be rivals on the Quidditch field though Potter, no amount of friendship will change that." Draco put away the last telescope and left the tower.

"I told you he had changed." Ginny said whispering in Harry's ear through the invisibility cloak. Harry smiled as her invisible arms snaked their way around his body. Ginny loved meeting him on the Astronomy tower; it was so peaceful and romantic.

Harry pulled her closer and locked the door with his wand. He transfigured a bench into a fluffy mattress and he and Ginny lay down to gaze at the stars. It was one of their favorite activities, just holding each other and watching the heavens. A shooting star went by and before Harry could wish he heard Ginny's wish. "Please let Harry defeat Voldemort, I couldn't bear to live without him." Harry pulled her even closer; he had never realized just how deep their love had grown.

"I love you Gin," He said kissing her forehead, "We'll be together when this war is over. I know we will make it through, we love each other too much not to."

Draco was pacing his dormitory; he was still surprised by Potter's offer of friendship. Virginia had obviously not told him that he had hit on her; otherwise he would have been hexed to oblivion by now. Draco wondered if he would make it through the war, if he joined the Dark Lord he would be able to tell that Draco was not entirely loyal and he would be killed. If he stayed neutral his father would have the Death Eaters kill him for his disobedience. But if he joined Potter's side he just might have a chance at living. He hated the Dark Lord almost as much as the rest of them did and he would enjoy killing his father's fellow death eaters. Perhaps he should talk with Dumbledore; Amanda had been instructing him to do so since the summer, maybe he was finally ready to take sides.

Chapter 17: Choosing Sides

Draco received another letter from Amanda at breakfast, they had been writing more often now than when they had been together. He realized they were much better off as friends. She told him that her new job was going very well and that she was still trying to do her part for the 'cause.' That was what she called fighting for Dumbledore's side. She urged him to speak with the headmaster about his change of heart and to stay strong and not let the other Slytherins talk him into anything he didn't want to do.

He had potions after breakfast and knew he could be late without Snape minding. He followed the headmaster out of the great hall, intending to speak with him. "Is there something I can help you with Mr. Malfoy?" Dumbledore asked right before they reached the entrance to his office.

"Yes sir, I was hoping you had a few minutes free so I might speak with you," Draco said unsure that this was such a good idea. Dumbledore nodded, gave the password and motioned for Draco to follow him. He sat in a chair facing Dumbledore and looked him straight in the eye and said, "I don't want to be a death eater sir." The old headmaster smiled reassuringly and motioned for him to continue. "I hate what my father and the other death eaters do; I have spent my entire life in fear of them. I do not believe in any of the things that the Dark Lord stands for. I, I am ready to fight against him." Draco said relieved to finally speak those words out loud.

The headmaster regarded him carefully, searching for any hidden agenda or un-truths. "There is not turning back once you chose to take this road, are you sure you are ready for the consequences?" He asked him.

"Yes sir, I have been weighing the consequences since my father was sent to Azkaban. I know that my life as it was before will be forfeit, but this way I can at least die with dignity and fighting for a noble cause." Draco told him.

"And what makes you believe you will die?" Dumbledore asked intrigued.

"My life will be over with any choice. If I had chosen the follow my father's wishes and joined the death eaters, the Dark Lord would have been able to sense my disloyalty and loathing of him and I would be tortured to death. If I chose to remain neutral my father will send the death eaters after me calling me a coward and a disgrace. At least by fighting for you and the cause of good, I may be able to accomplish something. I believe that Potter can defeat the Dark Lord; it is what he fears most. I heard my father talking about it once, that a prophesy had been made many years ago saying there was one with the power to defeat the dark lord and they all believe it to be Potter, that is why he has tried to kill him so many times. I'll do anything that is necessary to ensure that Potter succeeds." Draco finished.

Dumbledore searched his mind and found that although Draco was frightened he was also telling the truth. "May I ask you what caused this change of heart?"

"Yes sir, I finally have friends that like me for who I am. They have shown me a glimpse of a world without the shadow of the enemy and I desperately want to live in that world. My father tortured me and beat me whenever I disappointed him. Neither of my parents loves me and the only friends I ever had only stay loyal to me because their family tells them to. This summer I met someone who showed me what I was missing. She showed me that I was more than just the Malfoy name and that I was a good person." Draco knew he was rambling but he wanted the headmaster to understand him.

"I want you to take this note and give it to Professor Lupin today before class, them I want you to join a group of students who are learning to fight against the death eaters. They meet at 6:30 pm in the DADA classroom. I know this will be difficult for you, but we need to keep the Slytherins thinking that you are loyal to them. If you ever need any help or things are getting bad, let professor Snape know and we will figure something out." Dumbledore stood and handed him another note for Snape.

Draco walked down the hallway feeling much lighter. Now that he had made his decision he knew what was expected of him. He was done with his father and the dark arts; he was a new and changed person. He handed Snape the note and took his seat next to Pansy, he was only about 5 minutes late and hadn't missed much. "Today you will be working with partners that I assign. You will be completing a Polyjuice potion, it takes one month to make and you will be graded as a pair." He paired all the Slytherins up together except Malfoy, there were and uneven number of them. Hermoine got paired with Justin and as expected Harry and Malfoy were paired together.

They set up Harry's caldron and started retrieving the ingredients they needed. "I know you are a good potions maker Malfoy, I don't expect you to make this all by yourself. I'm familiar with this potion and will pull my weight." Harry told him.

Draco stared at Harry; they had always just let him do the potion if it was a combined grade because everyone knew he was the best potions student in the school. "All right Potter, we'll share the work. I have seen that your potions skills are much better than they used to be, but we will have the best potion in the class, so don't screw up." They worked for the rest of the double period, talking occasionally about trivial things such as the freshness of their ingredients or commenting on the other student's work. Harry was surprised how easily they had switched from being enemies to being civil to each other.

They worked on conjuring in Transfiguration. They were to start small and work their way larger. She asked if anyone had been successful conjuring things before and only Harry, Hermoine and Draco raised their hands and were asked to demonstrate. Hermoine conjured a wine glass, earning 5 points. Malfoy smirked and conjured a table cloth and place setting in front of him on his desk, earning him 10 points. Harry smiled and conjured a full meal on top Draco's dishes, including a stuffed turkey and a steaming bowl of mashed potatoes. He even conjured two chairs on either end of the desk making it a complete table for two.

McGonagall stared for a moment at the elaborateness of Harry's spell before awarding him 15 points. She vanished the conjured items with her wand. She set the rest of the class to work on conjuring toothpicks and had the other three work on a list of different items. She checked them off as they completed each one. Hermoine started to struggle slightly once the items got larger than a breadbox and had to concentrate very hard to conjure a chair. Malfoy and Harry had no trouble with any of the items on the list. When they were finished she instructed them to help out the rest of the class.

Quidditch practice went much better than it had on Monday. Ginny was still by far the best chaser but Dean and Seamus seemed to be gaining confidence. Ron's confidence was way better after having won the cup last year and he rarely missed a shot. The tiny Creevy brothers were very good beaters. Harry was sure they would win their first game against Hufflepuff on Sunday.

Harry was excited about the DA meeting that night. Remus had told him after class that they were getting a new member. Professor Dumbledore had invited the person to join himself and Harry was curious who it would be. He and Ginny arrived before everyone else for a little snog secession before the rest of them showed up. "Now now, save that for Hogsmead this weekend!" Tonks giggled. "Besides you don't want Remus to see and give you another father son talk do you Harry?" She was purple from laughing so hard.

"Maybe I should give him a little talk about not being in a certain other Professor's room late at night." Harry said laughing as well, watching he blush. Tonks dove at him and started tickling him mercilessly. Ginny just sat and watched smiling. They had just finished torturing each other and were panting from the exertion when the rest of the class walked in, followed by Remus who shook his head smirking at the two people he loved. "Sorry dad didn't mean to mess up your room." Harry said noticing the desks out of alignment and some dark detectors dangerously close to falling off a shelf. He righted the detectors and sent the desks to the far end of the room to make more practice space for the DA.

At exactly 6:30 the door opened and Draco Malfoy walked in looking slightly nervous. He knew that he would be the only Slytherin and hoped he would be allowed to join. Dumbledore had not told him much other than that it was a student run group designed to prepare themselves for the coming war. He saw Harry standing in front of the group and realized that this was the same group he had helped Umbridge capture last year. He hoped Dumbledore knew what he was doing.

Harry sensed the group's unease and went over to Draco. "Professor Dumbledore said you would be joining our club tonight Malfoy. In case he didn't tell you this is a secret club designed to train us to fight Death Eaters and Voldemort. You will need to sign the roster which swears you to secrecy and will be expected to treat everyone here with respect. I will ensure that you are treated with respect by them." The group looked skeptical, but if Dumbledore had invited him, he must be on their side. "Welcome to Dumbledore's Army." Harry said shaking Malfoy's hand before starting the meeting.

Tonks was smiling at her friends. Draco was behaving very well and could perform most of the spells and jinxes Harry asked him to, so they could judge where he was at. Harry also tested the other new members to see if they had been practicing. The rest of the secession was spent mastering the protection spell he had taught them last time. The 'core' group went around and assisted the others. This was a very important spell and Harry wanted them to be able to produce a strong one within a moments notice.

"Very good," Harry said as it was almost time to leave. "Now keep practicing, this spell may be the difference between life and death in a battle. If you perform it correctly, not many spells will be able to penetrate it. And the ones that do will have been lowered in power. Any questions?"

"How effective is this against the unforgivable curses?" One of the new Hufflepuff members asked.

"It may deflect a unforgivable that is not very powerful, but a powerful unforgivable curse has no counter curse and you cannot block it. The only way to protect yourself against the Imperious curse is to throw it off in your mind. The Curisatus curse will be lessened by this spell, so the only way to block it is to dodge it completely. The same goes for the killing curse, you need to dodge it by jumping out of the way or behind a solid object." Harry said as they all looked at him in fear, he couldn't blame them, the unforgivables were scary.

"The ministry is working on a counter to the Cruciatus curse, but it will only work for very powerful wizards." Malfoy said from the back of the room. "It also takes a strong willed person to throw off the Imperious curse. When it is cast on you, you feel like all your cares and worries are gone and then you are ordered to do something and you can choose to fight the blissfully numb feeling or you become some death eaters' puppet."

"Malfoy is right; it takes strength of mind to toss of the curse. The curse was designed so that people would not want to fight it. It makes you forget anything bad and you feel content. When the fake professor Moody used it on me last year, I heard him directing me but them I thought about why I anted to do that and said 'no' and broke the spell. I did the same thing fighting Voldemort after the tri-wizard tournament." Harry said as the whole room was silent. "None of us are safe from him; we all need to fight against him."

The DA left, leaving Harry, Ron, Hermoine, Ginny, Malfoy and the two professors to talk. "Are you going to explain Harry?" Ron said looking daggers at Malfoy.

"He's on our side, relax Ron!" Ginny said smiling at Draco.

"Thanks Red," Malfoy smiled, "And I want to apologize to all of you for all the horrible things I've said and done to you over the years. I know I was horrible. I was afraid of my father and what he would do to me if I didn't do as I was told, but not anymore. I'm finished pretending to be who he wants."

Ron just stared at the boy who had been their enemy since 1st year. He was waiting for Harry to attack and berate Malfoy into pieces. He was surprised when he saw everyone else was smiling. "What? Why do you believe him?" Ron said looking at all his friends.

"He has changed Ron, and he means what he said." Harry told him.

"He is on our side now Ron and he's my friend," Ginny told her brother making Draco smile at her.

"Dumbledore believes him Ron that should be enough for you." Remus told him.

"Fine, but I'll be watching you Malfoy. If you hurt any of my friends and especially my sister, I'll be the one you're afraid of!" Ron told the silver haired Slytherin.

Harry woke excited the next morning; he was going to start anamagi training today. He was anxious to see what he transformed into. He and Remus had joked that they would have to figure out a Marauder nickname for him once they knew what kind of animal he transformed into.

Draco got a letter from Amanda that she wanted to meet him in Hogsmead on Saturday. She said there was something important she wanted to tell him. He wrote he back that he could meet her at 11:30 and they could have lunch. He had to help Snape that morning with Ginny and he wouldn't pass up being alone with her even if he was aching to know what Amanda wanted.

The day crawled by slowly for Harry, he finished all the housekeeping charms that they were learning within the first ½ hour of class and had to read to keep him from dying of boredom. He managed to get through Herbologry and Care of Magical Creatures before almost sprinting to lunch. He knew that seeing Ginny would take his mind off how slow the day was going.

Transfiguration was fun; they were transfiguring monkeys into other animals and objects. They would be working with the monkeys for a month since they were the closest animals to humans. They wouldn't learn human transfiguration until next year. Harry laughed as he turned his monkey into a white ferret and watched Malfoy pale at the memory. Draco in turn transfigured his monkey into a snake and sent it towards Harry.

"Go mess with Malfoy," He hissed at the snake. Draco immediately turned it back into a monkey once he realized it was heading back toward him. They spent the rest of the lesson trying to spot out the transfigured animals around the classroom. McGonagall said it was important to be able to recognize something for what it really was. She handed them a piece of parchment with 25 blanks on it and told then each to find as many as they could and write them down, they would be graded on how well they did.

Harry spotted the 25 things easily, for some reason he could even tell what they were supposed to be. A large globe in the corner was a pig, the quill on her desk was a white mouse, her desk was really a rug and the rug was her chair. He looked around and saw that many of his classmates were struggling with the test.

Harry said goodbye to his friends and waited for Tonks to arrive to start his training. "You did very well on the exam Harry," McGonagall told him smiling. I see you even mentioned that the curtains were transfigured from an old blanket, I had nearly forgotten about that I did it so long ago." She laughed and looked over the other papers frowning. "Your other classmates were not as through in their descriptions, they only mentioned what they thought had been transfigured. It seems they do not have the gift as you and I do. You see Potter, not all witches and wizards can see what an object that has been transfigured used to be. It is a very useful skill in my profession and it will be for you as well if you still desire to be an auror. "

"Yes, it is the only thing I can see myself doing after school, other than teaching." Harry had started to realize that he enjoyed teaching the DA and figured if he ever got tired of being an auror he would enjoy teaching DADA."

"You will make a great auror Harry," Tonks said when she walked in, "If you do as well as we all expect you to, you might be able to teach new Aurors." Harry had never thought of teaching outside Hogwarts, but either one sounded great.

"Let's get started," McGonagall said starting to explain the process to him in detail with Tonks interjecting now and then. Harry was surprised his father and Sirius had been able to accomplish it on their own. They told him that the animal the person turns into is a reflection of their inner self, the animal side of themselves. McGonagall transformed into her cat self a few times for him and Tonks finally decided to show the two her form. They locked the door so no one would interrupt and she turned into the chameleon.

"Well that's appropriate for a metamorphmagi!" Harry laughed when he looked down at her as she blended in with the tile floor. "Way to go camo!"

She transformed back, she was her natural self for a fraction of a second before becoming her bubblegum pink self. "Camo?" she asked him skeptically.

"Yeah, like camouflage, you know dressing up to blend in with your surroundings." Harry said smiling at her, "besides it fits your personality."

"Here is a book on anamagi transformations; I've transfigured its cover to look like one of those DADA books you carry around constantly. I want you to read as much as you can before next weeks lesson. Professor Flitwick tells me you get plenty of reading time in his class as you are a fastest learner." McGonagall told him handing him a book called "Spotting the Suspicious," and sending him down to dinner.

He finished his homework assignments and started reading before his rounds. Ginny was curled up on the couch next to him reading her transfiguration text to study for the test she had tomorrow. "Ugh, I don't think I'll ever get my stupid mouse vanished!" Harry put his book down and helped her practice. She could vanish the body but the tail, feet and nose were still there.

"Just clear your mind of everything else and focus on the mouse, imagine it disappearing and then do the spell. Focus is the key to it." Harry coached. He watched her screw up her face in concentration and point her wand at the mouse. She opened her eyes and squealed with delight, she had successfully vanished the mouse.

"Thank you," she said seductively and kissed him full on the mouth. "I really should repay the favor." She batted her eyelashes at him and he collapsed in laughter on the couch. She really was related to Fred and George, she could be devious!

"Ok, then go with me into Hogsmead on Saturday. I want to take you on our first proper date." Harry said smiling and kissing her hand.

"We can go around 11; I have to help Snape brew more potions until then. Do you just want to meet down there?" She asked him. "That way you can get your shopping done before I get down there."

"I don't want you walking down there alone, it's not safe enough." Harry told her seriously.

"I'll have Malfoy walk me down; he is meeting 'Amanda' at 11:30." Ginny said smiling, "She's going to tell him the truth, so we'll get to see just how serious he is about changing sides."

"That will work, death eaters won't attack if you're with their favorite Slytherin." Harry told her, "It'll be nice that Tonks and Moony won't have to keep their relationship a secret anymore. Maybe he can get up the guts and make her my mum."

Ginny hit him playfully on the shoulder. "I think you're having them move a little too fast don't you think. They only just go together this summer; it's only been a few months! How do you know they are even that serious?"

"The same way I know that if we were adults we would already be married," Harry said making her blush. "You can't hide when you've fallen in love. Besides they are perfect for each other."

"Just don't pressure them," Ginny advised, "They need time to have an open relationship first. Let the school get used to them dating before they turn up Mr. and Mrs. and flip everyone out." Ginny giggled at him as he nuzzled her ear.

"We have rounds now, go get your cloak and I'll meet you in our spot at midnight," he winked at her they went to their rooms to get their cloaks. Harry sniggered as he saw Ron's hangings were pulled tight shut. He knew Ron and Hermoine we in there snogging and had cast a silence charm on the curtains so they wouldn't be heard. "Darn, I guess Ron already left for his rounds!" Harry said loudly, hoping to break the two apart and remind them of their duties. As he left the room he thought he saw the curtains pulled apart a little and smiled. Ron owed him big time for this one!

When he met Ginny at the astronomy tower at midnight he told her where Ron and Hermoine had been all night and she laughed and snuggled into him. She sat up quickly, "You don't think they were, well, you know doing it, do you?" She asked not wanting to think about her friend and her brother in that intimate act.

"I hope not," Harry said grimacing; he didn't like thinking of his two best mates like that. "Hermoine is smart enough not to do that until she's out of school, I mean if they got caught or weren't careful she could get in serious trouble!"

"I hope so; I mean I know she's in love with him and that he's a horny git. I just hope they wait. I don't want her to throw her career away because she gets knocked up by my brother." Ginny said sighing. She knew that Harry and she could easily get carried away with each other if they hadn't made a pact not to do anything until after graduation.

"Let's get back before anyone misses us," He told her kissing her softly. "It looks like a storm is brewing; I just hope it doesn't last the weekend."

The next day went smoothly for Harry and he left the dungeons in a good mood after potions. Snape had stopped trying to torment him entirely and actually told Draco and Harry their potion looked good. He hurried up the stairs toward Dumbledore's office and told the statue to let him past. He knocked on the door and was told to come in.

"Good afternoon Harry, we will be starting with some simple spells. You told me you cast lumos last summer without your wand, please try and light this candle with it." Dumbledore said pointing to a short fat candle on his desk. Harry got it on the first try without even needing to concentrate hard. By the end of the lesson he could open, shut, lock and unlock doors, light and blow out candles, make things fly around the room and put up the simple protection spell.

"Very good Harry, you are progressing very fast. Next week we will start working on charms and possibly transfiguration. Once you get the hang of that we will move on to actual offensive and defensive spells." He said walking Harry to the door. "Good luck in the Quidditch match this weekend."

Ginny had gotten detention from her muggle studies teacher for bewitching the muggle telephone they were studying to ring and random intervals throughout the class. She had to write lines for two hours that night. Harry decided to take the time to set up their date. He had already made a lunch date for them at the upscale bistro in town. Normally students were not allowed but the management had made special arrangements since he was the famous Harry Potter and they knew he could afford their overpriced meals. He had ordered them a carriage to take them around the town and had a desert picnic set up near a stream on the edge of town. He had written home to Dobby and had him send the gift he wanted to give her. She wouldn't tell anyone but her birthday was on Sunday and they already had a surprise party planned for after the Quidditch match. He wanted to do something special for her with just the two of them, which was why he insisted that this weekend be one of the Hogsmead weekends when the prefects planned them out at the beginning of the year.

He looked down at the delicate locket in his hand. It was on a gold chain and the locket had intricate engravings of flowers. The flowers were lilies and roses. Harry thought it appropriate. The lily signified his mother and the rose signified Ginny. She had told him that her favorite flower was a rose. He had placed a photo of the two of them in the locket. He had gotten the photo from Colin Creevey after he had taken it of them kissing. He smiled and slipped the locket into the purple velvet box he had Dobby get for it.

Ginny made her way groggily down to the dungeons. She hated getting up early on weekends, but she was glad she would still have time to go out with Harry afterwards. Malfoy looked half awake as well when she stumbled over to the stool next to him. "Morning Dragon." She mumbled, "Glad to see I'm not the only one who's not a morning person."

"Nice to see you too Reeeeeeeed," He said yawning. She leaned against his shoulder and closed her eyes determined to sleep until Snape graced them with his presence. Draco smiled, he was glad she trusted him enough to sleep on his shoulder. Snape looked from Ginny to Draco as he entered. He recognized the look on the boy's face and felt sorry for him. It was the same look he got when he was around Lily. It seemed both Slytherins had a thing for red headed Gryffindors who were in love with Potters.

"I hope I'm not keeping you from your beauty sleep Miss Weasley," Snape said not able to keep the humor from his voice. It was hard to dislike the girl when she was so gifted at potions and reminded him of Lily.

"No Professor, I was just resting until you arrived with our instructions." She told him. He was surprised at how causal of a comment it was, she hadn't blushed at being leaned up against her former enemy or even jumped when he had addressed her.

They worked all morning making three different potions for the hospital wing. Ginny was sure she could brew these potions in her sleep now. She and Draco discussed their childhoods while brewing. They found it interesting that she grew up having very little but was happy and content where he grew up being spoiled and had everything except loving parents and happiness.

"I guess it goes to show you that money can't buy happiness." Ginny told him as they finished the last potion. "I wouldn't trade my childhood for the world, even though hand me downs from my brothers had the neighbors believing I was a boy until I was 7 and begged my mom to buy me a dress." She laughed at the memory. Draco watched her laugh, she looked so beautiful.

"Do you still need me to walk you to Hogsmead?" Draco asked as they cleaned up. He thought it funny that he was walking her into town to meet Harry, when he would give almost anything to be escorting her there to go on a date with him. If he hadn't been meeting Amanda he probably would have been upset about Ginny's actual date.

"Yes, Harry has the whole day planned out. Don't tell anyone, but he knows my birthday is tomorrow and is taking me out to celebrate it." Ginny told him as they made their way down to town. Draco tried to keep his eyes off her but she looked amazing. She had taken off her school robes and was wearing a black skirt to her knees and a tight and somewhat revealing butter yellow top. It was super soft against his skin as she held his arm on the way down the main stairs of the castle.

"Good luck with Amanda, and thank you for escorting me down here." She leaned up and kissed his cheek before running off to Harry who he could see waiting in front of the same restaurant he was meeting Amanda in. He guessed Harry and him had the same tastes both in dining and in women.

"Hello beautiful," Harry said kissing her tenderly. He had seen her kiss Malfoy's cheek and was surprised to find there were no jealous feelings. He could tell that Draco liked Ginny as more than a friend, but he could tell that Ginny would never betray him. Ginny trusted Draco not to try anything and that was enough for him. At least he knew he could trust Draco to protect her if needed. "You look absolutely wonderful." He lead her up into the restaurant, it was located above one of the clothing shops. They were taken to a table by the window overlooking the whole town.

"This is very nice Harry," Ginny said smiling and taking his hand in hers as she looked over the menu. She ordered the salmon and Harry had a steak. They enjoyed their lunch and didn't even notice that Draco and Tonks were at a table in the back.

Tonks noticed Draco look at Ginny again. Every time he looked her way he got a glossy look on his face and a slight smile. "Draco," she said placing her hand on his. "You need to stop torturing yourself over her. I know she is beautiful and that you like her lots, but she's with Harry and she's happy. Concentrate on just being her friend. There are lots of girls out there, get a girlfriend, have some fun, stop dwelling. You are the Prince of Slytherin; you could have any other girl."

"You know about me liking Ginny?" He said looking at his friends face and knowing everything she said had been true.

"Yes, now go find yourself a pretty little Ravenclaw and snog her brains out. You're young have fun!" Tonks laughed.

They finished their meal and she sat for a moment determining the best way to tell him the truth. "I haven't been completely honest with you Draco." She said looking into his eyes. "I want to tell you the truth but I'm afraid of how you'll react."

"Let me ask you something first," Draco said preparing himself for the worst. "Were you honest when you said you wanted to stay my friend?"

"Yes, I enjoy your company and I always want to stay a friend, that's why I need to tell you the truth. You see I'm not who you think I am." She started; trying to read his emotions he was so good at hiding. "When we met I didn't know what to do so I told you a false name. I knew that Remus was a werewolf, in fact he and I were not even dating at the time."

Draco stared, he wondered why he had been set up, but he knew he needed to let her finish before he interrupted with questions. "I work for the ministry and another secret organization that fights Death Eaters. I thought you might be able to give me information about their whereabouts, so I lied about who I was and agreed to go out with you." Tonks looked at him, he looked like he had a million questions, but she continued anyway. "When we started hanging out and talking I knew you we could get you on our side. I could sense the good in you just bursting to be let out. I wanted to tell you the truth as soon as I found out that you were changed, but I was afraid it would drive you back to them." Tonks said looking down; she was ashamed she played him like that, even if it did turn out well. "That's why I kept urging you to go to Dumbledore; I knew once you talked to him I could tell you the truth. That's why I'm here."

Draco looked at her; he could tell she was truly sorry. That might also explain why they didn't have any chemistry together. "I guess I understand, if I had been in your position I would have done the same thing." He told her, watching her smile gratefully at him. "What's your name?" Draco asked, he wanted to get to know the real her.

"You already know my name; you just don't realize it's me." She told him smiling. "Didn't you wonder how I knew you liked Ginny and that she was seeing Harry when you never mentioned it in your letters?"

Draco stared at her. She must have some connection to the school, but how when she worked for the ministry. "What do you do for the ministry?" He asked curiously.

"I'm an auror, don't you remember how skillfully I took out those two idiot death eaters? I left you to take them into custody." She told him as he smiled at the memory.

That was when it hit him; she was an auror that hung around Remus and Harry who had ties to the school. "Tonks?" Malfoy asked unbelieving. She had been with him at school the whole time; she probably knew he liked Ginny before he ever wrote to her. That would definitely explain the whole no chemistry thing, she was his cousin!

Tonks smiled and nodded at him, she turned the ends of her hair blue to prove it. "So how mad at me are you really?" She asked him.

"I'll be ok; it's just a big shock." He said honestly. "And I still hold true to the fact that you should give Professor Lupin another shot, even though I guess it would be a first shot. He's perfect for you, now more than ever."

Tonks grinned, "I'm glad you said that because that's the other thing I wanted to tell you." They spent the rest of the afternoon talking in the back of the restaurant.

Chapter 18: Birthday Wishes

Ginny was amazed at the planning Harry had put into their afternoon. The carriage ride through town and the picnic by the stream were so romantic. "I will have to make Hermoine eat her words after today. She keeps insisting that all boys are idiots when it comes to romance. But you, Mr. Potter get an O in my book," Ginny told him smiling.

"Do I get anything special for an O, I mean I was just going for an Exceeds Expectations, but an Outstanding? I think I deserve and extra long and passionate kiss." He said as she giggled.

"I'm not sure you have hit me with all the surprises yet, what if later there is something more deserving of this reward you speak of?" They often bantered back and forth like this, pretending to be begging the other for a kiss or two when they knew they would be getting it anyways.

"When you say more surprises," Harry said reaching into his bag and pulling out the purple box, "Were you thinking of this maybe?" He handed her the box.

Ginny's eyes were wide as she took the box. She opened it to look at the beautifully engraved locket. She couldn't even think of words to describe it so she just gave Harry the passionate and long kiss he had been joking about. "I take it you like it then?" He laughed as she nodded. He hung it around her neck and kissed her again. "Open it; I want you to see the inscription and the picture."

She opened the golden locket and read "All my love, Harry," and had a picture of them kissing in it. She remembered when Colin had taken that picture and Harry chased him around the common room for 10 minutes. "Happy Birthday." He said smiling.

"Thank you Harry, I love it." She kissed him again as they enjoyed the rest of their time together.

Draco was walking around Hogsmead with Tonks who still looked like Amanda. His Slytherin classmates kept giving him thumbs ups and winking at him for scoring such an attractive woman. "So what do you get a girl who is your friend but who you are totally taken with for her birthday?" He asked as they looked through one of the shops.

"I don't know, but I would stay away from jewelry since that is a very intimate gift. Maybe she'd like some parchment or ink or sweets?" He shook his head to all those. "What about clothing or a belt or hair clips, maybe she'd like some perfume or a book?" Tonks realized he wanted her gift to be special but not look like he had put too much thought into it.

Draco stopped in front of one of the clothing stores. In the window was a mannequin wearing a sparkling purple belt with matching purple school bag. He dragged Tonks into the store who realized what he had seen and smiled. "I think they are perfect. Besides, they were in the window so some of her friends had to have seen them and it won't look like you put too much thought into it. You can just say you thought of her when you saw the purple bag and remembered it was her birthday tomorrow."

He smiled, it really was good. He could get her something he knew she would like and be able to look like it was an impulse buy. He didn't even Potter would come up with such a perfect gift. He paid the lady and had her wrap it in purple gift wrap with golden snitches flying around on it. They headed back toward the castle for dinner.

Ginny awoke early the next morning. It was their first Quidditch game and her 16th birthday. She was now the same age as Harry, Ron and Hermoine, at least for a little while. Ron would turn 17 shortly after New Years; they were almost exactly 9 months apart. She saw a small pile of presents at the foot of her bed and squealed with delight. She tossed a pillow at Hermoine to wake her up before settling herself down to open her gifts. Her patents had sent more than usual, perhaps it was die to having more money.

The first one was from Bill and was a new purple t-shirt that had sparkling silver writing that said "I'M INOCENT, MY BROTHERS DID IT!" She laughed and showed it to Hermoine who thought it was perfect. Charlie sent her a book on the worlds most famous chasers, he always sent something Quidditch related. Fred and George sent her another large box full of dung bombs, their fireworks, a portable swamp and three bags of sweets. She had the perfect idea for the swamp she just hoped Draco would help her so it would keep her out of trouble.

"We're going to give you your presents later after the match," Hermoine told her when there were only three presents left. Her mother had sent her a new skirt that was different layers of a soft purple fabric in a swirl pattern and a pair of purple trainers. She opened the next card and saw it was from Draco.

"I didn't expect a gift from him, but he says he saw this in Hogsmead yesterday and thought of me." Ginny said shrugging at Hermoine before opening the package to find the sparkly purple belt and purple school bag. "Wow!" Ginny exclaimed she had always wanted a purple bag; she was going to have to thank Draco.

"Malfoy has good taste," Hermoine commented. "I saw these in the window of one of the clothing shops." Her last present was shoved under her bed for some reason so she took the card first.

"We are so proud of you making prefect and becoming a chaser. We hope this helps with your game today. Happy Birthday and all our love, Mum and Dad." Ginny smiled and pulled on the package. She gave a little gasp as she realized it was long and thin. She pulled off the wrapping and there in her hand was a Nimbus 3000, the newest model. It still wasn't close to Harry's Firebolt but was way better than the comet 360 she was riding now.

"They got me a new broom!" Ginny squealed jumping up and hugging the broom to her before racing out to show the boys. "Ron! Harry! Ron! Look what mum and dad got me for my birthday! Look!!!!" She was jumping up and down with excitement and laughing. "Look at my new broom!"

At the words new broom Ron shot out of bed and looked at his sister's happy face. "Is that a Nimbus 3000?" He said reaching out to touch it. Ginny smiled and held the broom out for her brother's inspection. Harry had gotten up with all the excitement.

"Way to go Gin, you were good on that old slow broom; we are going to be unstoppable today!" Harry said hugging her and spinning her around. "Happy Birthday." He told her kissing her while Ron was still drooling over the broom.

The got ready for the match and made their way down to the great hall. Ginny had never had a better birthday before and she knew they would win their match. They had to, with her new faster broom and Harry as seeker, they would be unstoppable. She waved to Malfoy as she entered and could see him staring at her broom along with the rest of the Quidditch players in the room. The Gryffindors now had the two fastest brooms in the school, her Nimbus 3000 and Harry's firebolt.

"Good luck today Red," Draco said catching her before she headed into the changing rooms. "And Happy Birthday as well." She smiled seeing the look of pure happiness on her face.

"Yes, thank you for the bag; I've wanted a purple bag for a while. And can you believe my parents got me a new broom!" Ginny hugged him and raced inside to change and listen to Harry's pep talk.

"This is the first game of the season so we need to set the bar so high today none of the other teams have a shot at the cup. We have the fastest brooms and the most talent in the school. Ron here is a smashing good keeper, we have two beaters that they will never see coming and with Ginny's new broom you three chasers will leave Hufflepuff eating your dust. Now remember what we practiced and stay focused. Don't get discouraged if they score, we'll get them all back in the end when I catch the snitch. Now let's go have a great time and show everyone who to be afraid of this year!" They all jumped up cheering. Harry knew exactly how to motivate them and combined with Ron's game strategy they would take the cup again this year.

The game went very well, they were ahead by 30 within the first 5 minutes and Hufflepuff hadn't even taken a shot. Their new seeker looked scared to death and was gripping his broom so tight Harry had to stop himself from laughing at the poor 3rd year. He kept scanning the pitch for signs of the snitch. Ginny scored for the second time and he could hear the crowd go wild chanting, "Weasley, Weasley, Go Ginny!" over and over each time she scored. Harry was just flying past the announcer stand when he heard Lee Jordan, who was now in his final year, say "That is the 7th goal for Ginny Weasley who is celebrating her 16th birthday today. Let's all sing a nice round of Happy Birthday to Miss Weasley who has scored 7 out of Gryffindor's 9 goals."

Harry chuckled as he saw Ginny turn as red as her Quidditch robes as half the stadium (minus the Slytherins and Hufflepuffs) sang to her. The game had only been playing for half and hour and they were already up by 90 points. That was when Harry saw the snitch. It was doing circles around the very bottom of the middle Hufflepuff goal post. He started flying calmly in that direction, not wanting to alert the other seeker who was not looking anywhere near there. He slid his broom up behind Ginny who was flying towards the same goal post with the Creevy brothers on either side.

He head Lee say, "It looks like Potter is protecting chaser Ginny Weasley from behind. That is an interesting move rather than searching for the snitch." Harry smiled and zoomed after Ginny as she scored again. Their keeper looked startled as Harry barreled closer to him and then switched into a magnificent dive inches away from the post. He circled around the post a few times during his decent before grasping the tiny winged ball and pulling out of the dive less than a foot from the ground.

"Harry Potter catches the Golden Snitch!" Lee yelled out. "It seems his pretending to be blocking Weasley was only an elaborate way of catching the snitch without anyone realizing he had seen it!" Lee was jumping up and down. "That was one of the most unique catches in Hogwarts Quidditch history!"

Harry jumped of his broom and ran to Ginny kissing her as they were lifted onto the shoulders of the crowd and escorted back to the common room. Ginny had scored 100 points; the final score was Gryffindor 280, Hufflepuff 0. She was so excited, that had been the best time she had ever had playing Quidditch.

They approached the portrait hole and she was surprised by the congratulations and Happy Birthday banners that decorated the common room. Then she noticed the large birthday cake and party hats. "Surprise," Harry said smiling, "You didn't think we would let your birthday go uncelebrated did you?" She had though the day couldn't get any better, but she was wrong. There was Butterbeer and Honeydukes chocolates as well as a vast supply of Fred and Georges treats.

"Happy birthday little sis!" Fred said surprising her from behind. "You played bloody brilliant!"

"Yeah, we came to watch the game. I was a bit surprised when half the crowd sang along with Lee!" George added grinning. At least she knew who was responsible for that now.

"What are you doing here? How'd you get in?" Ginny asked, they had never told her about the secret passageways.

"That is our secret oh young prankster. We cannot reveal our ways!' Fred said laughing. "Besides, we didn't want to miss your party!"

The twins let of a bunch of their famous fireworks and they all had fun experimenting with the different candies. Ginny told them of Tonks prank on Malfoy and they kept asking her if she knew how Tonks had done it. "It was easy," Said a little first or second year they didn't recognize.

"How would you know?" George said wondering about the strange girl who was daring enough to come up to them.

"She did it," Harry laughed. "You know I think you two would recognize a fellow sneak when you saw one." He had seen Tonks right away. She told him she loved parties and had told McGonagall she would keep and eye on things.

Fred, George and Ginny stared for a second before they realized they were talking to Tonks. "You really faked a howler? That is perfect." Fred said in awe. They pulled her into a corner to discuss the details so they could recreate them and sell them in their shop. They agreed to give Tonks all the profits from them and make her a partner if she could keep coming up with ideas like that. The three spent the rest of the night hatching ideas for crazy products. George's favorite was the shampoo that turns your hair a different color every time you wash it. He knew kids would love slipping it into their parents' shampoo.

"No wonder she gets along with Lupin so well. She must be part Marauder; she's just as crazy as those two!" Ginny laughed to Harry. He realized that Tonks was more perfect for Moody than anyone ever thought.

"I might be able to convince the last Marauder to help us." Tonks told them watching as their eyes got huge.

"You know the actual Marauders? Do you think they would help us? They pulled more pranks while they were here than were pulled during any other period." George said in awe.

"There is only one of them left, Prongs and Padfoot were killed and Wormtail is no longer worthy of being called a Marauder." She told them sadly. Harry had told her and Remus that the twins were the ones that had found the map and figured out how to use it.

"So Moony might help us then?" Fred asked hopefully. "How do you know them anyway?"

"I can't tell you until he lets me know its ok to tell you who he is." Tonks said smiling. She could tell they had no idea that Remus was Moony.

"Come on Fred, dance with me!" Ginny called across the room. He got up and and went over to dance with his sister for her birthday.

Tonks went up to Harry at midnight and told him he better quiet them down or McGonagall would have both their skins. Harry knew no one would take him seriously so he had Hermoine yell at them to start wrapping it up. They all groaned but finally headed up to bed when she reminded them that id McGonagall came up she would give them all detention. Fred and George left with many new orders for products and a new creative partner. The four prefects sat around the fireplace.

"Here Ginny, Happy Birthday." Hermoine said handing her a present. It was a new diary with a cover of plush purple suede. "I saw that yours was getting full and I saw this and thought of you.

"Thanks Hermoine, I love it. I see you guys all finally realized my favorite color was purple." She giggled.

"We always knew, it's just with all the hand me downs and second hand stuff we used to get, you never had a color choice. Look at my first set of dress robes!" Ron said shaking his head as his friends laughed. He handed her a present too. It was the miniature globe with the working model of the solar system in it that Harry had given Ron that summer. Ron had always wanted one, but since he failed his OWL in astronomy he didn't need it as much as she did.

"This is incredible!" Ginny said hugging him. "You know how much I hate astronomy, and I never seem to be able to borrow Harry's since he uses it for class."

Harry smiled and handed her another present. It was the purple parchment he had gotten her in Diagon Alley. "You didn't need to get me another present Harry," She said kissing him, wining a "Eww, Harry that's my sister!" from Ron. Ginny showed them the locket Harry had given her yesterday.

"That is beautiful Ginny," Hermoine said. She was still shocked at how romantic Harry had made their date yesterday. Ginny had told her all about it when they got back. She had laughed at how the most romantic thing Ron did was to go up to the bar and get their drinks and Hermoine had guessed that was more to see Madame Rosemerta than to be romantic. "At least Harry has some idea of what it takes to romance a girl." She shot Ron a look who stared back at her confused.

"I'm romantic." He told them as they all laughed and headed for bed.

"You're about as romantic as Snape is handsome." Harry told his friend. "I'm surprised Hermoine puts up with you." The all laughed again and said goodnight.

Ginny transferred all her school things into her new bag the next morning. Making sure her purple quill and rainbow ink were kept safe. She dressed in her school robes and put the sparkly belt Draco had given her around them, showing off her curvy figure more. She wore her new purple trainers as well.

Draco was pleased to see her using his gifts. He also saw her showing off a locket that she was wearing around her neck and realized it must be from Potter since her parents had gotten her a new broom. "Figures he would still show me up." Draco thought miserably.

"I hope you had a pleasant Birthday Miss Weasley," Professor Dumbledore said as he passed their table. "I must say that is the first time I remember anyone being sung to by the school since they sang for Lily Potter her 7th year."

Ginny stared at him as he smiled. Harry's mom had been sung too as well, that was a neat bit of trivia. "Thank you professor, it was a lovely day." Ginny said smiling up at the most respected wizard of their time.

Harry heard Dumbledore tell Ginny that the school had sung to his mother and smiled at how alike the two were. They were both red headed Gryffindors with fiery tempers that were beautiful, smart and in love with Potters. It was almost uncanny how much Harry looked like his father. He had put a picture of Ginny and him next to a picture of his parents and it was scary how similar they were.

Ginny tried not to fall asleep in history of magic, but who could stay awake to listen to Professor Bins on a Monday morning at 8 am! He mind wandered to the potions classroom where she knew Harry and Draco were working on their Polyjuice potion. She started nodding off and suddenly her body went rigid and she floated up into the air. Her voice was harsh and rigid. "The hour of Gryffindor is at hand. The heir will lead the fight and bring about the destruction of the Dark Lord. With power and love he will bring about a peace that has not been achieved since the days of Merlin."

Ginny sank back down into her chair and awoke looking frightened. Her classmates were looking at her as if she was insane. She looked around for Professor Bins, who she was surprised to see had disappeared. Professor Dumbledore rushed in moments later, followed by the ghost teacher who had apparently contacted him. He lined each student up carefully and extracted the memory of Ginny's prophesy and put it in his pensive. The he told them all that Ginny was not feeling well and to go back to studying, before leading the confused red head out of the classroom and to his office.

"Did I just make a prophesy?" Ginny asked him both scared and unsure of what had happened to her.

"Yes, indeed you did Miss Weasley, although it was not altogether unexpected. Your grandmother on your mother's side was a seer and your mother has shown the gift of foresight many times over the years. Why do you think she was so skilled at figuring out your brother's pranks?" He told her. "I was wondering when your gift would surface."

"What exactly did I say, it was as if I was in a trance" Ginny told him. She watched as he placed the pensive on his desk. Then he went to the fire and within minutes her parents were there as well.

Dumbledore explained that Ginny had her fist prophesy before he took her hand and touched the silvery vapors in the pensive. Suddenly they were all standing in the History of Magic classroom. She watched herself rise off her chair and hover in mid air and repeat the words in a voice that wasn't hers.

"The heir?" Mr. Weasley asked as soon as they were back in the office. "Gryffindor's heir?"

"Yes, I believe he will be revealed soon." Dumbledore said with his eyes twinkling. "And I believe Miss Weasley will play and important role in the peace he is supposed to usher in, that is why she received such a powerful prophesy at such a young age."

"My baby is a seer, a true seer!" Mrs. Weasley said hugging her daughter closely.

"You will need to pay close attention in Divination now that your powers have emerged. Listen to the methods used to clear and focus your mind. I want you to come to me if you have any visions or see anything, even if you do not think it important." The headmaster told her smiling.

"Yes, sir. But how will I get up here?" She said knowing he changed the password often.

"Get Harry first and bring him with you, he will be able to get you here." He told her, his eyes twinkling. "We will want to try and keep your seer skills secret if possible, only tell your close friends that you can trust. Voldemort will try to exploit your power if he learns of it."

"You must be very careful now Ginny," He father said seriously. "A true seer is rare. You will be safe while you are at Hogwarts so I do not think you should come to the burrow for Christmas." Ginny looked sadly at her father, she had been hoping for a big family Christmas this year. Then she got a vision of them all sitting in front of a roaring fireplace with a large fir tree and piles of gifts in the corner. Her whole family, Harry, Remus, Tonks, Hermoine and her parents, even Draco and Dumbledore were laughing and having a great time at Harry's house.

She looked at Dumbledore and smiled. "I think we are still going to have a merry Christmas even if we aren't at the burrow." The headmaster winked at her.

"I think we should all meet at headquarters for the holidays, I have a feeling there will be very few students staying, perhaps only those who would want to be there with your family." Dumbledore was impressed with the image that Ginny had of them sitting around the tree. He rarely ever left the castle for the holidays, but it seemed he would be paying a visit to headquarters this year.

"Be good dear and study hard for your OWLs. We will see you for the holidays at headquarters it seems, assuming Harry agrees." Her mother told her hugging her good bye and stepping into the fireplace.

"Enjoy the Halloween feast; it was always my favorite when I was a student." Her father said before heading back to work. Dumbledore handed her a note for professor Snape. Her potions class had started 5 min ago.

"Oh, and Miss Weasley, I would like you to join Harry in his Occlumency lessons on Tuesdays. You also have a free period and Occlumency will help keep others out of your mind." She nodded and headed to potions.

Chapter 19: Seeing the Heir

Ginny pulled Harry into her room as soon as he entered the common room. "What's wrong Gin you look scared?" he asked her.

"I just had a premonition Harry; I went all funny and floated out of my chair. Professor Dumbledore told me that I'm a seer." She told him wondering how he would react. He twitched involuntarily every time anyone ever mentioned a prophesy.

"A premonition? A real one?" Harry asked shocked. "I didn't know you had any seer blood in you."

"Neither did I but apparently my grandmother was a seer and my mum had the gift of foresight." She said to him.

"What was your premonition about?" Harry asked.

"It was about Gryffindor's heir and him bringing about Voldemort's demise and a peace we never thought could exist." Ginny told him looking at her feet; she hated reminding him of Voldemort. "Dumbledore thinks the heir will be revealed soon."

"He told me about a premonition that was made over 200 years ago that said that Gryffindor's heir will be the most powerful wizard to have ever lived." Harry told her. "I guess that is why he will be involved with Voldemort's demise, but doesn't that contradict the prophesy about me having to kill him?"

"Mine only said that the heir would bring about the demise, maybe he is going to train you or help you in some way but you have to do the actual deed." Ginny said shrugging. "I guess prophesies are not supposed to spell everything out for us."

"I'm happy for your new powers Gin," Harry said kissing her, "just be careful that no one learns of your ability, they might try and exploit it."

"You are such a great guy, thank you for being so supportive," Ginny said. "Will you help me tell Ron and Hermione?" She was nervous of their reactions.

"Let's tell them after Quidditch practice," he told her as they headed down to lunch. "Then we can discuss it in DA if you want." They had elite DA that night.

Ginny had divination after lunch and she knew she needed to pay attention and learn how to control her abilities. They were reviewing reading tea leaves and starting on crystal balls today. Blast double divination! She was working with Colin. She took his cup to read his leaves and used her book to decipher the images that were there. "It looks like you are going to have a bad fall while trying to save someone you love." She told him hoping she was wrong. He couldn't see anything in her leaves.

Ginny gazed into her crystal ball; the orb was full of smoky shapes. She had never expected to see anything. Suddenly the cloudy images became clearer. She saw a boy although she couldn't make out any facial features. He turned into a large bird and then back into the boy again. She could tell it was an anamagi transformation. The boy looked to her and blew her a kiss; it was then that she noticed the messy hair. The boy was Harry. She watched him turn back into the bird and disappear in flames before appearing again. She then realized that the bird was a phoenix.

"What do you see dear?" Trelawney asked her.

"I see a boy and he transforms into a bird and back again." Ginny told her leaving out Harry and the phoenix. Ginny wrote what she read in Colin's tea leaves and what she saw in the ball down in her diary to see if they came true later. She was still keeping her dream diary for class as well. Who would have thought she'd actually start to enjoy divination class.

"You ok Dennis?" Ron asked before practice, "You are looking kind of pale."

"I'm ok," The small boy replied, "Just tired."

They were having a great practice when Ginny heard Colin yell, "Dennis!" She turned to see that Dennis had fallen from his broom and Colin was racing to catch him. Colin flew under his brother but misjudged his catch sending him falling off his broom as well. Ginny sighed as she watched her friends' fall knowing she couldn't help them. Her reading of Colin's tea leaves came back to her. She had told him he would have a bad fall trying to save someone he loved.

Harry pointed his wand at his two falling team mates and concentrated on slowing them down before yelling the spell. The boys slowed down enough that they would survive the crash. They may break bones but they would be alive at least. He ran up to them conjuring stretchers on the way. Ron helped him get them on the stretchers before rushing them up to the castle for help.

"What happened?" Madame Pomfrey asked rushing over.

"Dennis fell and then Colin fell while trying to save him," Ron told her. "Harry slowed down their decent so they didn't hit at full force." She rushed off to treat the Creevy brothers while the team waited.

Ginny pulled Harry aside trembling. "I saw this in Colin's tea leaves this afternoon in divination. I read that he would fall while trying to save someone he loved." She whispered. She was becoming scared of her new ability. Harry just hugged her; he didn't know what to say to make her feel better. He knew it would only get worse if she saw someone get seriously injured or die and couldn't stop it or help them.

Professor McGonagall came in to check on the condition of her students. She noticed Ginny looking shaken up. "Did you foresee this Miss Weasley?" She asked her quietly so that no one other than Harry could hear.

"I read in his tea leaves that he would fall while saving someone he loved." Ginny whispered, "I was hoping I had misinterpreted the shapes."

"Did you see anything else this afternoon?" McGonagall asked her hoping nothing else bad was going to happen today.

"I saw a boy transforming into a large bird in the crystal ball." Ginny said looking quickly at Harry. McGonagall saw her reluctance and pulled her aside so they could talk in private. "I think he transformed into a phoenix because the bird disappeared in flames and then reappeared, then turned back into the boy."

"Do you know who the boy is?" McGonagall was intrigued, it sounded like she had a vision of Gryffindor's heir.

Ginny leaned closer to her and whispered "It was Harry." She could see McGonagall's surprised face. She didn't understand why she was so stunned.

"I think we should keep this quiet, we wouldn't want to confuse anyone." McGonagall said smiling. "I'll make sure to inform Professor Dumbledore of everything." She then went off to check on the Creevys.

Colin and Dennis were fine but Madame Pomfrey insisted they stay overnight for observation. The rest of them left to change and go to dinner. Elite DA that night was subdued without Colin and Dennis. Ron and Hermione were quiet as well, Ginny and Harry had just finished telling them about her new ability and how she predicted Colin's fall. Ron was shocked and Hermione skeptical, she had lost all her faith in divination thanks to Professor Trelawney being a fraud.

Wednesdays were always hard on Harry. Fist he had Quidditch then he taught DA and then prefect rounds. Harry was exhausted after his rounds and fell asleep almost immediately, Ron was already snoring. They were both oblivious to the raging storm outside. Ginny and Hermione were finishing their homework. Ginny was in her OWL year and the professors were piling on the work and Hermione just studied too much. Hermione shuddered and pulled her blanket closer around her. The wind was howling and the windows were being pelted with rain.

Ginny suddenly jumped off her bed, grabbed Hermione and pulled her out of the room into the little entry area. "It's not safe to stay in there tonight, I just know it." Ginny said her eyes wide. She pulled Hermione into the boys' room; they didn't even hear them enter. "We'll just stay her with them for tonight." Ginny said as she crawled into Harry's bed next to him. Hermione followed suit and crawled in next to Ron. The boys didn't even wake up, but Harry did roll over and wrap his arm around Ginny who smiled before falling asleep.

"Hermione?" Ron asked as he awoke the next morning to find a head of bushy brown hair lying across his chest. "What are you doing in here?"

Hermione woke and yawned. "Ginny said it wasn't safe to sleep in our room last night so we came in here." Ron turned to find his sister wrapped in his best friends arms with a smile on both their faces.

"You let Ginny sleep in the same bed as Harry?" Ron asked her.

"Yes, would you rather I slept in Harry's bed and Ginny in yours?" Hermione teased. "Besides you were both asleep and didn't even realize we were here." Ron got out of bed and went over to wake Harry and Ginny.

"Wake up you two before I have to tell mum you stayed here." Ron said as Ginny snapped awake. She looked over at Harry and smiled, she had felt so safe in his arms. Harry just snuggled closer to her still asleep. He was having a very nice dream about living in a world free of dark wizards and having a family of his own.

Ginny said soothingly, "Wake up Harry you have to go to class." He opened his eyes and grinned. He had felt her next to him during the night and liked how it felt to hold her in his arms as they slept.

"Morning beautiful, what are you doing in my bed this lovely morning?" Harry asked kissing her cheek. Ron rolled his eyes.

"I had a very strong feeling that it wasn't safe to sleep in our room last night so Hermione and I came in here." Ginny said. "Will you go with us to check on our room please?"

The four of them made their way to the girls' room and slowly opened the door. The room was in shambles, the windows were broken out and debris from the storm was scattered around the room. Ginny's bed had a huge gash in the mattress and Hermione's had a large tree branch lying on it. Their trunks were relatively untouched and they grabbed their school bags and robes and went to change in the bathroom.

"Good thing they came to our room," Ron said examining the damage. "They could have been killed by all of this. We should go check and see if any of the other dorms have damage."

"Yes, we'll want to let Professor McGonagall know about the damage and make sure nobody's hurt." Harry said as they made their way up to the boys' dorms. The only other damage was a broken window in the 3rd year girls' dorms that Hermione fixed with a swish of her wand. The major damage was only to her and Ginny's room.

The four of them stopped into McGonagall's office on their way to breakfast to tell her about the damage to the girls' room. She was happy they hadn't gotten hurt. They were about to leave when Professor Trelawney stepped into the office. She gave Harry her usual pitting look before turning to McGonagall. "The fates have informed me that this is to be a trying day for you Minerva, I thought it appropriate for you to be aware." She said as she turned to Harry, not noticing Ginny approach McGonagall and touch her arm. "Beware Harry the Grim still haunts you."

Ginny couldn't stand it any more; her professor was an outright fraud. "I too see the large dog that follows Harry. But it is protecting him and watching over him. It is not the grim; it is one of the spirits guiding him. At one time the spirit was called snuffles and is Harry's guardian." She told all who were in the office.

"You are not as tuned to your inner eye as I Miss Weasley; with some additional training you may be able to interpret these things properly." Trelawney said without her usual airy voice.

"Ginny is right, I have met the dog she refers to before he died. I would expect him to continue to watch over me as a spirit as he did while he was alive." Harry said, he hated Trelawney always predicting horrible things happening to him. "I also remember you seeing my death multiple times throughout the last few years and yet I still remain alive."

McGonagall tried as hard as possible not to laugh at the venomous look Trelawney shot them all before leaving the office. "I'm afraid you will not be learning much from her Miss Weasley, she was not happy when Dumbledore told her you were a seer. She told him that he was mistaken and that she had seen nothing indicating that you would ever be a true seer. I know her to be a large fraud and I must say that the only seers I have ever met all keep their abilities a secret. Anyone who goes out of their way to claim to posses the inner eye is usually lying."

"Thank you professor, and when I touched your arm I saw that you would witness an important historical event today, I sense nothing saying that your day will be trying." Ginny said as McGonagall smiled as they all left to head for breakfast. It would be an interesting year with Miss. Weasley having such a strong seeing ability. Everyone was surprised with how fast her abilities were developing.

"That was bloody brilliant!" Ron said laughing as they headed to the great hall. "The way her bug eyes were popping out of her head. Thank you Ginny that was the most fun I've had in a while!" They all laughed and talked about how Trelawney was a fraud all through breakfast.

Harry spent most of transfiguration class studying his book on anamagi transformation. He had finished his class work within the first 5 minutes of class. He was secure in his knowledge of the anamagi transformation. The spell was complex but he had faith that he could perform it. He was going to see if Tonks and McGonagall thought he was ready as well.

Tonks and McGonagall tested Harry and realized he was ready. "You are the quickest study of this I've ever taught." Professor McGonagall told him. "Just make sure you concentrate fully on what you are doing. We will stop you if you forget a step."

Tonks held her breath as she watched Harry start to perform the complicated spell. He could be permanently deformed if he did it wrong, but she had seen less prepared wizards who didn't have half his talent manage the spell so she was confident he would succeed. McGonagall watched him steadily making sure every wand movement was precise and the pronunciation was perfect.

Harry concentrated fully on the spell as he cast the different aspects of the complicated spell. He knew what the consequences of an improper spell were and was determined to do it correctly. He was also very curious what animal he would turn into. He hoped it was something that could fly. He loved the feeling of being on his broom and wanted to feel the sensation of flying under his own power.

He finished casting the spell and felt a warm tingling sensation spread throughout his body. He felt as if he were shrinking. He opened his eyes once the tingling stopped and looked around. He was much shorter than he had been, he looked up to see Tonks looking pale and gaping at him. McGonagall was gripping the desk to keep herself steady. Harry couldn't tell what he was; he moved his arms and felt himself lift off the ground. He was a bird of some sort; he flew in a circle around the room. He tried to call out Tonks to ask her what he was but all that came out were melodic notes.

The song strengthened his two professors. "Very well done Potter, why don't you transform back so we can talk to you." McGonagall said finally finding her voice. She looked at Tonks who was still staring in awe.

"The heir," Tonks finally said breathlessly. She watched as Harry landed on the floor between them. He was beautiful. He was covered with scarlet feathers with gold tail feathers, face and beak. He turned back into the boy with messy raven hair that they all knew.

"What did I turn into?" He asked excitedly as he stood up from the floor. He would have to work on his transformations so that he was standing when he turned back into himself. "I know I'm a bird, but what kind?"

"You are a phoenix Harry." McGonagall told him watching his stunned face.

"Butâ Butâ Does that make me? How can that?" Harry rambled. He remembered Professor Dumbledore telling him that most believed it to be impossible to turn into a phoenix. The he thought of Fawks and Gryffindor and also remembered the prophesy. So Ginny's prophesy was correct, the heir of Gryffindor could be the one to defeat Lord Voldemort because he was the heir and they already knew he had to fight him.

"The prophesy was true, the heir of Gryffindor will take flight upon the wings of a phoenix." Tonks mumbled still overcome with the revelation.

"You are the only wizard ever known to have become a phoenix anamagi." McGonagall told him. "I see that Miss Weasley was correct that I would witness an important historical event today. The heir of Gryffindor has been revealed as you Harry Potter." Harry just stared at his two professors. He was still having a hard time imagining himself as the heir of Gryffindor, but a few things made sense now. The portrait of Godric Gryffindor had told him that only the heir and the headmaster could know about Fawks' true identity.

Professor McGonagall took him to see Dumbledore while Tonks went to get Lupin. They approached the gargoyle and Harry told it to move. McGonagall was surprised when the stairs appeared without the password, but thought she shouldn't be surprised with anything Potter did if he truly was the heir. They entered his office to wait for the headmaster. Harry transformed back into phoenix form and flew over to join Fawks on his perch.

"Can you understand me?" He sang to the bird who was once a great wizard and one of his ancestors. "Did you know I was your heir?'

"Yes Harry that is why I was drawn to you and why your wand has my tail feather in it." Fawks told him. "It is nice to have someone to talk to after all this time who knows who I am. Owls get tiresome to speak with."

McGonagall's heart was lifted as she listened to the melodious conversation of the two phoenixes. "It is as I thought." Dumbledore said as he entered his office. "I believed Harry to be the heir and I was even more certain after Miss Weasley's prediction. Can you imaging Minerva, we are alive to witness the coming of the heir of Gryffindor who is said to be the most powerful wizard ever to live."

"So it is true then Albus, Harry is the heir? Is it possible? Has anyone ever documented his lineage?" She asked him.

"Yes, Harry's mother's families were powerful wizards. The reason his aunt was born a squib was because all their magic was concentrated in Lily. That was why she was such a brilliant student. The interesting thing is that both Lily and James descend from the last known descendent of Gryffindor so any male child of theirs was twice a likely to be the heir. When the prophesy was made and determined to be Harry who had to defeat Voldemort I knew he was the heir and have been watching his powers grow for signs." Dumbledore smiled and winked at Harry who was still sitting with Fawks, both birds listening intently.

Harry flew down and transformed back into himself. "Is it really true that I am supposed to be the most powerful wizard ever?" He was finding it hard to believe that his magic was supposed to be greater than even Dumbledore's.

"Yes Harry, why do you think wand less magic, all your classes and even anamagi transformation came so easily to you. It would also explain your prowess at Quidditch and why you are the one destined to defeat Voldemort." He told him smiling.

Remus and Snape entered the office right then with Tonks. "Is it true?" Remus asked looking from his employer to his son. "Is Harry really the heir?" Snape seemed incapable of speech. How could the son of James Potter be the most powerful wizard ever and the one who would save the world?

Dumbledore nodded to Harry who transformed into his Phoenix form in front of them. Snape shook his head and Remus gasped. "Ginny Weasley knew and I didn't believe her prediction." McGonagall said quietly. "She saw in the orb a boy transforming onto a phoenix, she told he the boy was Harry. She really is a true seer, which would make her prophesy true as well."

"Harry I must inform the Minister of this immediately and see what course of action he suggests we take." Dumbledore told him. "I would appreciate it if you and Remus accompanied me." Fawks flew over and Dumbledore grabbed his tail and they disappeared in flames.

"Ok," Harry said standing, "I apologize if the road is bumpy. I haven't been a phoenix for long." He transformed and Remus hung onto his tail feathers before they erupted in flames. Seconds later they were standing in Mr. Weasley's office.

"Two phoenixes? Where did he come from?" Arthur asked Remus.

"That is why we are here Arthur, we have found Gryffindor's heir." Dumbledore told him smiling.

"The heir?" Arthur said standing, "Will he help us fight Voldemort?"

"Yes, in fact he has always been the one we knew would defeat the dark lord." Remus told him smiling. Dumbledore signified for Harry to transform.

"Harry!" Arthur said jumping and falling back into his chair. "The heir, Harry you are the heir!" Harry had never heard him sound so excited, even when muggle appliances were present. "I knew you were special but I never thought you would be the heir."

They talked for an hour, having a secretary bring them all dinner. Mr. Weasley and the Dumbledore decided to announce to the paper that Gryffindor's heir had been found. They felt it would drive fear into the hearts of the death eaters and draw Voldemort out of hiding. Harry would be working with Tonks every Thursday to start Auror training. They would be joined by Kingsley and Mad Eye whenever possible to get him as ready as possible. Mr. Weasley hugged him tight before they left and told him that he believed Ginny's prediction that he would defeat the Dark Lord and bring about peace.

"This whole fly from place to place in seconds is awesome!" Harry said when they got back. He had always liked phoenixes ever since he met Fawks in second year; they were so magical and beautiful. "It's kind of funny now that when I was playing Ginny's secret admirer I signed the notes as The Phoenix."

Dumbledore's eyes sparkled as he looked down upon Harry. "There will be many questions about Gryffindor's heir after the article in tomorrows Daily Prophet. We need to keep your anamagi form secret until the final battle. When you transform in front of the Death Eaters and Voldemort it will instill fear in their hearts."

"I'll only tell Ron, Hermione and Ginny. You know I don't keep anything from them." He said shaking hands with Dumbledore. "Good night Mooney." He said hugging him before he left the office.

When Harry was out of earshot Remus turned to Dumbledore. "My Harry is the heir of Gryffindor, what do I need to do to help him?" He was worried that all the new powers and finding out he was supposed to be the most powerful wizard ever was going to be too much for Harry to handle. "Did Lily and James know they were descendents of Gryffindor?"

"All you need to do to help him is to be there when he needs your support. It is good that you are here this year to help him cope with the increased stress. Lily didn't know she was a pureblood. She did find out her parents were wizards the night they were murdered by death eaters. They had fought back and she was clever enough not to believe that 3 death eaters stunned themselves before Aurors arrived. James knew of course, his family tree was well documented." Dumbledore said.

"I'm confused though; Lily's family line is very well hidden. How is that possible?" Remus asked curiously.

"Lily's father's family name was O'Connell a pureblood Irish family; he was the last member of his line. Her mother's family had hidden their true identity long ago. Lily's great-grandfather was the only one to ever find out they were descendents of Gryffindor. He was Lily's grandmother's father on her mother's side. He married the sister Nicolas Flammel who died during childbirth shortly after they married. The child was hidden and the public was told she had died as well." Dumbledore said sadly, the spark missing from his eyes.

"I'm surprised James never mentioned his lineage. I guess that is why Lily ended up in Gryffindor instead of Ravenclaw. She had wondered about that. She told me once that the sorting hat told her she was one of the cleverest witches it had ever seen and that she would be the jewel of Ravenclaw, then it yelled out Gryffindor." Remus chuckled.

"We may not understand the sorting hats decisions but it has never placed someone in the wrong house yet." Dumbledore said. "He is a very smart hat."

Chapter 20: Saving Lives

"Harry!" Ginny said running to him as she entered the common room. "Where were you at dinner? We were so worried." She said hugging him tight.

"I'm sorry I went with Dumbledore to visit your father." He told her and motioned for Ron and Hermoine to follow him into his room so they could talk. Ron and Hermoine sat on one bed with Harry and Ginny on the other. Ginny was still clutching to Harry. "Dumbledore took me to talk with your dad." He told Ron. "I found my anamagi form and we had to let the ministry know, but also need to keep it a complete secret from anyone not in the Order."

Ginny smiled, she knew he would transform soon and that he would be a phoenix. She had looked up anamagi transformations in the library and there was no record of anyone ever turning into a phoenix. It was supposed to be impossible, but she knew he would. "What did you transform into?" Hermoine asked him.

"I'm a phoenix." He said quietly.

"Harry it's not possible to be a phoenix anamagi, it says so in our text book. Besides it is extremely rare to become a magical creature. Only the most powerful wizards or witches become magical creatures, but never a phoenix." Hermoine told him, she believed her textbooks could not be wrong. Harry just smiled and transformed.

Ginny smiled and stroked his long beautiful scarlet feathers. "You are Gryffindor colors Harry." She joked as he leaned his head into her hand. Hermoine just sat staring at him; there was no denying he was a phoenix. Ron looked pale, like he was about to pass out. "Are you ok Ron?" Ginny asked her brother.

"Don't you remember the prophesy about Gryffindor's heir Ginny? Mum told us about it when we were all younger. It said that Gryffindor's heir would be the most powerful wizard to ever live and that he would ride upon the wings of a phoenix." Ron stared at his best mate who was transformed into the magical bird. Could Harry possibly be Gryffindor's heir?

Harry transformed back into himself and nodded to Ron. "That's why we had to go see your Dad; Dumbledore told me that I am the heir of Gryffindor." Harry said seeing the shocked faces of his friends.

"That means you are the most powerful wizard to ever have lived!" Ron said still in shock. Ginny looked scared.

"My premonition was about Gryffindor's heir," She said quietly. "The hour of Gryffindor is at hand. The heir will lead the fight and bring about the destruction of the Dark Lord. With power and love he will bring about a peace that has not been achieved since the days of Merlin." She looked to Harry who kissed her forehead. "Dumbledore told me that the reason I had such a powerful first premonition was that I would be an important part of bringing about peace."

"What did my dad say?" Ron asked still having trouble digesting the fact that his best mate was the most powerful wizard ever.

"They are telling the Prophet that they found the Heir of Gryffindor but they won't tell them who, only that the heir is preparing to lead the fight against all the dark wizards. Dumbledore said I have to keep my anamagi form a secret no matter what." Harry told them.

"That shouldn't be too hard. Not very many people would believe that a 6th year could become an anamagi and the fact that you're not registered will help as well." Hermoine told them. "You will just have to make sure you don't transform unless you are someplace safe, like here in the room or the shrieking shack of course." She smiled at him knowing that he would be accompanying Remus on the next full moon.

"I hope that my phoenix tears and song can keep him healthy while he is transformed. I hate seeing him so weak after the full moon." He told them before they left to go on their prefect rounds.

"Hey Potter, you ok? I didn't see you at dinner and Ginny looked worried." Malfoy asked as they passed during their rounds. The two of them had become quite civil to each other. Not a single insult had been hurled since Draco switched sides and when no Slytherins were around they actually had polite conversations.

"Yeah, I was having dinner with Dumbledore to talk about the DA. He had some ideas for future secessions." Harry lied. He trusted Malfoy was on their side, but he couldn't risk the truth being exposed.

"Who do you think is going to win Saturday's game between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff?" Draco asked switching to his favorite subject.

"Hufflepuff is not playing well this year; I don't think Ravenclaw will have a problem beating them. Cho is a good flyer and their beaters are really good, I watched a little of their practice last week. What do you think your chances are this year?" Harry asked.

"We are ok, Crabbe and Goyle can't fly to save their lives but they can sure smack that bludger. Your team is the only competition for us this year. I still can't believe we weren't in the running for the cup last year even with you banned your team still won." Malfoy shook his head remembering. "My father was at the last game we lost to Ravenclaw and broke my arm afterwards he was so angry. I had to tell the nurse I was hit with a bludger."

"They are guarding Azkaban against a death eater strike so hopefully your father will be in there for a very long time." Harry said reassuringly.

"I got a letter from him the other day; he asked why he hadn't heard that I joined the Dark Lord. He said I better do my duty as a Malfoy and follow the life he set up for me. Yeah right, like I would ever want to follow his example. My mother will most likely expect me to join over Christmas Holidays. I guess I'll be staying here this year like you always do."

"I'm actually going home for Christmas this year. It's the first time I've ever had a home to go to. I'll talk with Remus and see if you can come with us if you like. All the Weasleys will be there and a few other friends." Harry said surprising himself that he had actually meant the invitation and was hoping Malfoy would come.

"That would be a much better idea than being stuck in the Slytherin dungeons by myself. I heard that no one is planning on staying, I just figured you would as always." Draco said as they finished their rounds. "See you around Potter."

"Night Malfoy." Harry said as he headed up toward the astronomy tower. He wanted to talk with Ginny about everything that was going on. He slipped his invisibility cloak on waited for her to arrive.

She stepped out onto the tower and smiled. She could feel that Harry was here too. They hadn't made plans but yet she knew he would be there waiting for her. She was beginning to like her gift of foresight.

"Are you ok with everything that's happening?" Harry asked caressing her back while they embraced. "I know a lot of new things have been revealed and I just wanted to talk to you about it all."

"I knew you were a phoenix anamagi, I saw you in my crystal ball. I didn't realize that meant you were Gryffindor's heir but it makes sense. The prophesies fit together now. The one saying that you were the only one who could defeat the dark lord and mine about the heir defeating him." Ginny said softly. "I just don't understand what Dumbledore meant about me playing an important part in bringing about peace."

"I think I know," Harry said kissing her softly. "But you'll figure it out on your own; I'm not ready to tell you yet." He said kissing her more deeply. He knew the reason she was an important part was because they were together and she would be his wife. He had no doubts they would be together after graduation, but he didn't want to make that commitment yet. They were only 16 after all.

Ginny smiled, when Harry had kissed her the second time she saw a slightly older version of herself walking down the aisle in a white dress to Harry standing at the end with a smile. They would get married, that was why she would play an important part. It wasn't in the part of peace it was in the part of love.

"I asked Malfoy to join us all for Christmas; his mother is expecting him to come home to join the death eaters. What do you think?" Harry asked

"I already knew he would be there," Ginny said laughing. "I didn't think you would be the one to invite him though. I'm glad you two are getting along so well. I've gotten to know him and he is a very nice guy now that he's not pretending to be a Slytherin git all the time. I can't imagine growing up in a house where you were beaten constantly. I don't know how you two put up with it."

"For me it made me realize that true family has nothing to do with being related. When I met Ron and Hermoine it was like I came alive for the first time. I see that change in Malfoy as well. He has seen life the way we all want it to be as well as has experienced what it would be like in a world ruled by darkness. He will fight as hard as I do to keep from going back to that world of hate and pain. I think I might finally understand him." Harry told her.

Ginny had potions right before lunch on Fridays. They were working on a calming potion today in class. It was a simple potion but if you don't follow the directions exactly it could blow up on you. She had finished her potion and was watching her classmates struggle with theirs. She felt dizzy and had a vision of professor Snape approaching a cauldron that exploded and send him flying across the room. She saw him lying lifeless on the floor, blood trickling from his mouth.

She snapped her eyes open to see him walking toward the caldron that would cause his death. "No Professor!" She yelled running toward him and pulling him to the ground seconds before the caldron exploded. She rolled herself off him as the smoke cleared. He stood up shakily; the potion should not have exploded with that much force. He looked down to see Colin covered in blue sticky potion. Someone had added moon powder to the potion, which was the only explanation.

He looked to Ginny. "Thank you Miss Weasley. It was very observant of you to notice the blue color of the potion. Had you not pulled me to the ground I may have been seriously injured." He realized she had seen the accident and that was why she knew to save him but he had to cover or someone might discover her seer abilities.

"Now who tampered with Mr. Creevy's potion?" Snape asked glaring at the Slytherins. He saw one boy who refused to look him in the eye. "Though it would be funny to watch Creevy melt another caldron McNair? 10 points from Slytherin and a week of detention for you. If I find out that the reason Mr. Creevy has melted so many cauldrons is because other students have been sabotaging his potions I will make sure each and every one of you will not make it into my NEWT level class, am I understood?"

"Yes Professor." The entire room chorused, they had never seen him look so angry before. He never took house points from Slytherin. Snape held Ginny after class. "Please tell me what you saw Miss Weasley."

"I saw you approach the caldron and it exploded sending you flying to the other side of the room. You were dead. You had blood trickling down the side of your mouth and your eyes were blank. Then I snapped out of the vision and saw you approaching the caldron." She said quietly.

"Thank you for what you did. You put yourself at risk to save my life; I am forever in your dept." He said offering her his hand to shake. "You truly are an honorable person. I will inform the headmaster of your deeds and I think 50 points to Gryffindor are in order." She just stared at him. He had just awarded her 50 points!

"You also need to make sure you think of a good cover story every time you intervene. We don't want word of your ability to get out. I covered for you by saying that you had seen the blue color of the potion and since you are such a talented potions student the class believed. But you must be careful." He told her seriously.

She walked into the great hall. She was still shaken from Professor Snape's near death experience, but was happy she could save him. The house points were an added bonus. She sat down and was about to tell her friends what had happened when Professor Dumbledore stood. They all turned to look at him.

"I have just been informed of an incident in the potions classroom that could have claimed the life of our potions master. It seems that students find it amusing to sabotage other students' potions. Luckily Miss Virginia Weasley not noticed the odd color of the potion in question and pulled Professor Snape out of the way. If I hear of one other student tampering with another's work that student will be expelled. This school will not tolerate this type of behavior. Now let us all give Miss Weasley a grateful round of applause for her quick thinking that saved the life of Professor Snape." The hall all applauded for Ginny and the Gryffindor table all looked at her like she was crazy.

"You risked your life to save Snape's?" Ron asked her. "Why in the bloody hell would you do that?"

"It's the right thing to do Ron!" Hermoine scolded him.

Harry pulled Ginny into a big hug. "My little seer," He whispered in her ear.

"Snape took house points from Slytherin and gave me 50 points," Ginny said watching the shocked expressions around the table.

"That's my sister the hero!" Ron said out loud making some of the others laugh.

"Maybe he'll be nicer to Gryffindors now that you saved him and since it was a Slytherin who almost killed him." Hermoine said hopefully. She knew it was a long shot but they could at least hope. "We better get going; he's going to be in a bad mood after almost dying last period."

Harry groaned and kissed Ginny goodbye before following Hermione down to the dungeons. The class went smoothly; no one seemed keen on pissing Snape off more and made sure to follow every direction to the letter. They were almost finished with their Polyjuice potions and had been working on small simple potions like dreamless sleep and memory potions while the Polyjuice was brewing.

"We will be able to test your potions next weekend. I have an assignment in mind to see just how well your potions were brewed. It will be a detailed assignment that will count for a large portion of your grade." He sneered at them all. "You will be testing the potion by turning into your partner. You will spend all day Saturday drinking the potion and convincing your partner's friends and other teachers that you are that person. The longer you are able to pull off being the other person, the better the grade you get. I would advise you study the mannerisms and actions of your counterpart to familiarize yourself with the way they speak, act, move even eat."

They all stared at Snape shocked. It would be a very difficult test. "This is to show you that there is more to potions than correct ingredients. What is the good of making a potion to pass yourself off as someone else if no one believes you? Let me demonstrate. Mr. Potter may I have one of your hairs please."

Harry pulled out a single black hair from his head and handed it to him. Snape placed it in his potion that was ready and drank it down to demonstrate its effects. Soon Harry was looking at a spitting image of himself. "As you can hear, the potion does not affect your voice so you will have to practice your speech." Snape said. He took Harry into his office and transfigured his robes to match Harry's.

They walked back out and as instructed Harry said. "Now who can tell who the real Harry is?" The class asked each of them questions and they spent the next half hour trying to determine who the real Harry was. Snape knew a lot about Harry and had his voice down well.

They didn't let Hermoine ask any questions. She could easily ask a question only Harry would know, the trick to Polyjuice was that you didn't know that the person wasn't who they looked like. They finally took a show of hands on who they thought the real Harry was. The class was spit right down the middle. Most of the Slytherins thought that Snape was the real Harry and the others were of mixed opinion. Once they had all voted Snape turned to Hermoine. "So?" He asked her.

"You do make a very convincing Harry, but I know you are not him." She said smiling. She could easily tell them apart. The real Harry wouldn't have been volunteering to answer the questions as readily as Snape had been. He had tried too hard to prove he was Harry, therefore making him the fake. Shortly following her answer the potion wore off and Snape was back to himself.

"I must say sir; you look absolutely smashing in Gryffindor robes." Harry said as he made his way back to his desk. Malfoy snorted trying not to laugh. Even Snape looked mildly amused at the comment. He reminded everyone to learn their partner's mannerisms and body language before next week.

"How about we meet by the DADA classroom at the start of our rounds? We can do them together and quiz each other so we do well on this assignment." Draco said as they packed up their bags.

"Sounds like a plan. I tell you the hardest thing for me is going to be answering to your name. I just can't picture myself as a Malfoy." Harry chuckled.

"And I get to put up with all your groupies for a day, how lovely." Draco said sarcastically.

Draco and Harry talked to each other about their lives for the two hours they had rounds. They were so wrapped up in the assignment that they agreed to meet the next two nights as well. Their lives were both similar and glaringly opposite. Harry was hated just for what he was by his aunt and uncle and Draco was treated differently by everyone just because of his last name. They were both beaten for no reason and locked in their rooms for long periods of times without food. The only difference was that Draco had a rich luxurious room and Harry was in the cupboard under the stairs.

After three nights of talking Harry had finally gotten to know the real Draco Malfoy. He was a completely different person than he had expected. He wasn't pure evil or naturally spiteful, he had just been doing whatever it took to keep his father happy. "I remember this one time he came back from a death eater meeting. I'm guessing he had been punished for something because when he asked how my night was I didn't answer fast enough for him and he crucioed me twice and then put me under the imperious and forced me to punish myself." Draco said told him. "That was the night I decided I wanted nothing to do with Voldemort.

"Until I met Hagrid on my eleventh birthday I thought my parents had died in a car crash." Harry told him.

"A car crash? The muggles told you they died in a car crash, that's horrible." Draco told him.

"That's not the worst part. They never told me I was a wizard either. When my letter arrived my uncle burned it without allowing me to open it. They kept sending more letters and he burned every one. He piled us into the car and drove us all around the country trying to avoid the letters. Finally Hagrid showed up and hand delivered my letter. It wasn't until then that I found out what I was." Harry told him.

"You mean to tell me that you, the famous boy who lived, had no idea you were famous or even a wizard until you got your letter? That would mean that more people knew things about you than you even knew yourself." Draco said shaking his head.

"I was totally naive to the wizarding world. You were the first person my age I ever spoke to that day in Madame Malkins. I didn't understand half the questions you asked me and then you made fun of Hagrid who was the only person who had ever been nice to me. Then you were mean to Ron who was the first friend I ever made and that kind of solidified my opinion that I didn't want to know you." Harry said.

"When I realized who you were I was jealous. I was expecting to be the one everyone fawned all over at school; it's what you expect as a Malfoy. Instead the boy who lived was all anyone could talk about. When you refused my offer of friendship I remembered all the bad things my father had ever said about muggle lovers and vowed to make your life hell. I didn't deal with competition very well back then." Draco laughed.

"And are you telling me that you deal with it better now?" Harry said also laughing. "You still want to be the best and have the best of everything."

"Yeah, but at least now I am trying to earn it instead of thinking it is my right as a Malfoy to demand the best but not do anything to ever deserve it." Draco said sadly.

"You are a new generation of Malfoy, you can still be a rich snob, you just have to be a nice rich snob who doesn't follow around an insane man and dressing up in costumes to scare muggles." Harry said.

"I will never understand how they get pleasure out of killing people." Draco said surprising Harry. "I just hope that if they ever attack this school or any of my friends that I'm there to bring down every last one of those bastards."

"Leave some for me; I deserve some payback as well." Harry told him.

"I just hope that the ministry looks past my last name when looking at auror applications." Draco told him.

"You want to be an auror too?" Harry asked surprised. "I always pictured you as a banker or real estate man, something with lots of money and very little close contact with others."

"No, I like being in the action. That's probably why I picked so many fights with you. I hate sitting on the sidelines, but I do like to have backup. Crabbe and Goyle while being complete idiots are very useful in a fight." Draco laughed. "Besides, with my knowledge of the dark arts from growing up in a family of dark wizards I could be a valuable resource to the cause."

"Why don't you stop by the room of requirement on Monday night at 6:30? I have a small group of trusted friends that are training with me to fight. It's my elite version of the DA; I want us to be ready to fight if there is an attack on the castle. It is a very serious commitment Draco. If you are still unsure of what side you're on at all, don't come." Harry told him.

"That's the first time you've ever used my first name." Draco commented surprised. Harry was surprised as well; he hadn't even realized the mistake until he had said it.

"I guess some things change." Harry said.

"And some things don't." Draco said. "My father and the death eaters will never change, we will have to stop them."

"We will." Harry said as he headed up to bed. "See you tomorrow Draco."

The others were not entirely excited about Draco joining the elite DA. Ron ranted on and on about how they couldn't trust Malfoy. Ginny finally smacked him. "We can trust him Ron. He and I have become friends and if Harry trusts him we should all too."

"Fine, but I'm still not going to trust that git. He has to prove himself before I'll trust him." Ron said resolutely.

Friday Harry and Hermione walked nervously into potions class. They were going to get their Polyjuice potion today. Hermoine wasn't too nervous she trusted Justin. They were meeting Saturday morning at 9 am to take the potion. Harry and Malfoy were meeting them in the room of requirement to start their project.

Snape was waiting for them when they walked in. He looked to be in a foul mood. Harry guessed that having been almost killed by one of his students would put anyone in a bad mood. Snape walked around the classroom carefully inspecting each potion. He insulted almost everyone's potion. The only two groups he did not insult were Harry and Draco and Hermoine and Justin.

He reminded them that they would be graded on how well they passed themselves off as the other person. They were all given instructions to document the number of people they talked to and the length of conversation. They were only allowed to divulge the project if the other person figured out what was going on. They were also told not to warn any of their friends or he would fail them.

Harry had his hour of wand less magic lessons with Dumbledore so he said good bye to Hermoine and went to the Headmaster's office. When he entered he was surprised to find Professor Snape in the office as well. "Good afternoon Harry, Professor Snape wanted to speak with you. I'll just leave you two to talk." Dumbledore told him as he left.

"I wanted to apologize for the way I've treated you since you came to Hogwarts." Snape said. Harry could tell he actually meant it. "I've held a grudge against your father for many years and you look so much like him it was difficult for me not to treat you like I did him."

"I know that my father and Sirius were horrible to you when you were all students. When I saw your memory last year I was appalled at how my father had acted. I know he changed a lot after he left school. I'm sure my mother was responsible for a lot of that." Harry told him.

"I should never have let how I feel about your family effect my teaching. Today when Miss Weasley saved my life I saw the look of shock on all the Gryffindor's faces. They couldn't imagine she would save me after I treat them all so unfairly. I never noticed how biased I acted. Once again I am sorry. I also wanted to apologize for all the cruel things I've said to you over the years and how I hoped you would miss a step in a potion so I could fail you. I was very surprised to see your O in potions." Snape said.

Harry was still in shock that his potions professor had finally admitted that he wasn't treating Harry fairly. "May I ask why you and my father hated each other so much? I know he tormented you, but it seemed like how Malfoy and I act around each other. What was it that caused you to be such enemies?"

"I was afraid you would ask that." Snape said looking away. "This is something I have only talked about with Professor Dumbledore. It is a very personal thing. I hope that this does not make you think even less of me." He said stalling. "The reason your father and I hated each other in the beginning was only because of the Slytherin/Gryffindor rivalry. Then it became about your mother."

"My mother?" Harry asked surprised. He hadn't expected his mum to have anything to do with their feud.

"Yes, you see Lily would always stick up for me when your father and Black would gang up on me." Snape paused trying to find the courage to tell him the rest. "I fell in love with your mother Harry." He said so quietly Harry almost missed it.

"You were in love with my mum and so was my dad. That is the reason for all of this?" Harry said incredulously. He had never thought Snape capable of love, let alone for his mother. "Did she know?" Harry wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer.

"Yes, I told her but she was already in love with your father. We remained friends but Potter didn't like me talking to her. When he found out that I loved her everything got worse than before. It was out of hatred of your father and what I perceived as his perfect friends that I joined the Dark Lord. I wanted revenge on them and the only way I knew of was to follow my fellow Slytherins example." Snape told him relived to get this all out in the open.

"What made you change sides?" Harry asked even though he already had an idea.

"When they decided to come after your mother. They heard about a prophesy about a baby being born to a couple that had thrice defied the Dark Lord. You know the prophesy. When I heard that Lily was to be murdered I couldn't just sit by and watch it happen. I hated every minute of being a Death Eater. I hated the torturing and killing of muggles just for fun. The Dark Lord is not someone one would want to spend time with. He tortured us regularly for any little thing. When I heard about Lily it was the last straw and I went to Dumbledore that night." Snape told him.

"So you didn't know about Wormtail?" Harry asked him.

"No, if I had known I would have let everyone know. I too thought Sirius was the traitor. I was so sure that by being an informant I could save her. I think part of me still blames your father for trusting the traitor and not protecting your mother. That is why I was so horrible to you. You look him. It's like he is still alive but she is gone." Snape told him wondering Harry's reaction.

"I understand why Professor Dumbledore trusts you now." Harry told him. "It will take me a while to come to terms with you being in love with my mother."

"I never tried anything with her. She was my friend and I told her my feeling only because I didn't want to lie to her. She was very important to me. As much as I hated your father I saw how happy she was. I saw her once with you. She loved you more than anything Harry. She would have done anything to keep you safe." Snape smiled at the memory. "When we figured out how you survived the curse I was not surprised."

"May I ask why you are telling me all this now?" Harry asked him.

"We are going to be working together to fight the Death Eaters and the Dark Lord. Neither one of us will be any help to the Order if we cannot trust each other. I realized today that if Miss Weasley can put aside how badly I treated her to save my life I should be able to put aside my dislike of your father and find out what kind of a person you are Harry." Snape told him.

"I'm willing to try to start over. I have been trying to show you respect in class and you haven't been horrible since I have been studying so hard for your class. If we can be civil to each other outside of class and you start treating all the other houses with respect we will not have any problems." Harry told him hold out his had for Snape to shake.

"You are a much better person that I ever gave you credit for Potter. I believe that many people underestimate you, including the Dark Lord. That is why you will succeed."

Harry headed down to dinner to tell Ron, Hermoine and Ginny everything that had just occurred. They spent the rest of the night discussing the revelations that Snape had told him. Ginny seemed very interested that Snape was in love with Lily. "Don't you think it's odd that a Slytherin fell in love with a Gryffindor? I haven't heard of a pairing like that before." She told them.

"She was an amazing woman, just like you Gin. I'm not surprised he fell for her. In fact I bet she had admirers in every house." Harry laughed. He made sure to tell Malfoy all about his conversation with Snape that night during rounds so he could comment to his friends if asked.

Chapter 21: Being Someone Else

The next morning Harry and Hermoine met Malfoy and Justin in the room of requirement. They had each brought clothes for the other one to change into. They took their potion and stepped out of the changing rooms to get a look at each other.

"You never looked so good Potter." Malfoy said in his usual drawl. Smirking at Harry who was now looking just like him.

"Why don't you go crying back to your muggle loving Weasel?" Harry responded in a very good imitation of Malfoy's voice. He even had the smirk down. He watched as "Justin" and "Harry" laughed.

"You sounded just like him Harry!" Hermoine laughed before clapping her hand over her mouth realizing she was still using her voice. "I mean you sound just like a typical stuck up Slytherin." She said imitating Justin's voice. She had used a charm to lower her voice. Justin had to use one to sound like her as well.

"Come on Malfoy we better get to the great hall before the red heads miss us." Justin said laughing at his new higher pitched girl voice.

"See you at the Quidditch match. Good luck with the project." Hermoine said as she adjusted Justin's robes. I was going to take a while to get used to being in a boys body.

"Harry, Hermoine, where have you been all morning?" Ron asked as they joined him at the Gryffindor table.

"We were in the library studding for our potions project." Hermoine (Justin) told him while Ron rolled his eyes at how much work his too best mates were putting into that class.

Justin had to remind himself not to eat a lot; he had watched Hermoine eat small amounts. He pulled out a text book and started to read as he ate, also a Hermoine thing. "Don't you ever get tired of studying?" Harry (Malfoy) asked her, the real Harry had mentioned that they had this conversation at least once a week.

"Yeah, you two got up early to study, give it a break." Ron added through a mouthful of food. "Oh Ginny wanted me to tell you that she will see you at the match and to save her a seat." Ron told Harry.

Harry was sitting at the Slytherin table next to Goyle who was eating like it was his last meal. He kept a look of annoyance on his face that Draco always seemed to wear around the Slytherins. He just ate his food and prayed that the day would be over soon. He was having no problems convincing Crabbe and Goyle, but they were idiots.

"Hey Justin, come sit over here." Hannah Abbot said as he (Hermoine) entered the Great Hall. She knew that Justin and Hannah were friends. She sat between her and Padma Patel.

"Hey Hannah, Padma." She said still amused with Justin's deep voice. She had to concentrate on stuffing her face with food as most the boys did. She was never a big breakfast eater but she wasn't going to fail an assignment because she didn't feel like eating.

"Do you want to sit together at the match today?" Hannah asked him blushing. Hermoine nodded between bites. She knew the look in Hannah's eyes; she liked Justin. She knew he had no idea and that he normally sat next to her at the game. "Great. I can't wait for the match; I know we are going to beat Hufflepuff. They should be no problem after how horrible they played against Gryffindor."

"Save me a seat ok, I have to talk with Hermoine about our potions project before I head down to the game." She said. She needed to ask Justin about his feeling for Hannah before she went and asked him out while she was pretending to be him.

"Hey Hermoine," She said walking up to herself. "I have a question about that potions assignment, do you have a minute?"

"Sure, save me a seat Ron." She (Justin) said heading out of the Great Hall. They went into an empty classroom.

"Do you like Hannah?" Hermoine asked getting straight to the point.

"Sure I do, she's my friend. Why?" Justin asked curious.

"I mean do you like her any more than a friend? She asked you to sit next to her at the match and she blushed when she asked. Being a girl I think she might like you more than a friend." Hermoine told him watching as her own face turned red. "I just needed to know what to do if she asked you out or something."

Justin wasn't sure what to say. He had never really thought about being more than friends with Hannah. They were always together and he really liked spending time with her and he didn't like the thought of her liking other guys. Did that mean he liked her? "I've never thought about it before. I wouldn't be apposed to the idea; it's just kind of sudden for me." He told her. "I don't know what to tell you."

"Its all right, I'll make up something." Hermoine said. "I better get to the match. I have to go cheer for your team."

Ginny sat down next to Draco (Harry) and wrapped her arm through his and leaned on his shoulder. He loved the feel of her soft hair against him, even if he had to be Potter to experience it. "I missed you this morning." She told him as they waited for the match to start.

Harry was forced to boo both teams as they exited the changing rooms. The Slytherins all laughed as a bludger hit the Hufflepuff keeper making him fall off his broom. The game was becoming a blowout. Ravenclaw was up by 190 points to Hufflepuffs 30. Harry spotted the snitch hovering above the center Ravenclaw goal post. Finally the Hufflepuff seeker saw it and raced toward it. Cho was on the other side of the pitch and had no chance of catching it. The final score was Ravenclaw 190 Hufflepuff 180. The Slytherins were all commenting on how stupid the Hufflepuff chaser was for catching the snitch when they were loosing.

"That was way too close!" Hannah said grabbing onto Justin (Hermoine). "But we won! Yes!" They all headed down to the pitch to congratulate their team and head back for a victory party.

Justin had to try and keep his excitement down. Hermoine didn't care about Quidditch that much. They all headed back up to the common room. Malfoy was having the time of his life playing Harry. The way Ginny held onto him and smiled at him, he tried to forget that she was really smiling at Harry.

The victory party was fun. The Ravenclaws knew how to kick back and have a good time. Hannah and Justin were sitting on a couch in the corner of the room discussing the details of the game. Hermoine had listened to enough Quidditch conversations to be able to fake her interest well. "Did you know there's another Hogsmead weekend next weekend?" Hannah asked him.

Hermoine knew what was coming and hoped Justin wouldn't be upset. "Oh, I didn't notice." She shrugged.

"Well, if you don't have any plans maybe we can hang out there together." Hannah said blushing red and not looking at Justin.

"Ok, we hang out together almost every weekend." Hermoine said imitating the typical clueless male Hogwarts student.

"I know," Hannah added. "But I meant just you and me hanging out."

"Like a date?" Justin (Hermoine) asked, still playing stupid.

Hannah studied his face hoping for some sort of reaction. Boys were so dense sometimes. She just nodded her head; she hoped she hadn't just hurt their relationship.

Hermoine just stared at her with a fake shocked look on her face. She couldn't answer right away or the 'stupid boy's routine wouldn't work. After long enough silence she said, "I've never really thought about us like that before. I don't want to hurt our friendship if it doesn't work out."

"Just forget about it then," Hannah said quickly trying to cover her hurt.

Hermione couldn't stand seeing her friend hurt like that. "I'm not saying to forget it; I'm just saying I've never really thought about it before." She watched as Hannah smiled and hugged him tight.

"I don't want to ruin our friendship either but I can't help but wonder what it would be like to be more than friends." Hannah told him blushing again.

"Can I think it all over tonight and tell you in the morning?" Hermoine asked buying for time. "I'm still kind of in shock and need to sort everything out." Hannah agreed and they went back to talking about Quidditch and school work.

Hermoine told Justin what happened at dinner. Ron was busy discussing Quidditch with Dean and Seamus to notice she was missing. Draco (Harry) was enjoying talking with Ginny. "I still can't believe Snape apologized to you and admitted he favored the Slytherins." She told him.

"I guess when your own students turn on you it's time to make new friends." He said smiling. "Besides, it's a life changing experience having your arms wrapped around you." She giggled and swatted his arm playfully. Harry was watching from the other side of the room. He didn't like how Ginny couldn't tell it wasn't him.

Ginny giggled and pulled Harry up. "Let's go take a walk around the lake." He followed obediently.

The real Harry finished his dinner quickly and hurried after them to make sure Malfoy behaved himself. They were walking around the lake. "So if this was the second task of the Tri-wizard Tournament who would be the person you missed the most? Would it still be Ron?" Ginny asked.

"You know that you are the one I would miss the most. I couldn't stand it if anything were to happen to you." Malfoy said speaking from his own heart knowing that Harry would say the same. Harry was in the bushes listening and liked Malfoy's answer but knew his Ginny was going to kiss him soon.

"You really know how to sweet talk a girl don't you." Ginny said leaning up and kissing him tenderly on the lips. Draco was in heaven, he was kissing the girl of his dreams. He knew he would dream of this moment for the rest of his life and this was the only time he would ever touch those tender lips. Ginny pulled away abruptly. She glared at him. "Who are you and where is Harry!" She yelled.

Harry smiled from the bushes, he wasn't happy about the kiss but at least she could tell it wasn't him. Malfoy didn't know what to say to her. "Draco? Is that you?" She asked remembering they were working on Polyjuice in class. "Is this some kind of potions project or something?"

"How the hell did you figure that out so fast?" Draco asked in his own voice. "Yes, this is a class project; we all had to turn into our potions partner. So Harry is being me and I'm being him. We get graded on how well we fool each others friends. I'm sorry that we had too fool you."

"That's ok; I'm just surprised I couldn't tell sooner." Ginny said as they headed back into the castle. Harry hurried into the school before they saw him spying. He ran into Ron and Hermoine (Justin) in the entrance hall. Crabbe and Goyle were there also so he had to play the evil Malfoy part. "Watch it Weasley, you almost contaminated my robes with your girlfriends muggle filth." Harry said plastering on Malfoy's trademark sneer. Ginny and Draco had walked in just in time to hear Harry's comment.

"Shove off Malfoy." Draco said approaching them. Harry would never let him insult his friends without at least a warning. "Take your goons and go before I have to hex you."

Harry grinned mischievously before turning to face Draco. They had been commenting on how they hadn't had a good fight in front of the school in a while and the Slytherins might have started to wonder. "Bring it on Potter." Harry said knowing it would be an interesting fight.

"Harry stop it, come on lets go" Hermoine (Justin) said. He knew that Hermoine always tried to break up the fights between Harry and Draco. He thought it would be interesting to see who came out on top since they were in each others body.

Harry and Draco pulled out their wands, or rather each others wands and wondered how well they would work for each other. Malfoy was the first to strike with the disarming curse but Harry put up a protection charm. They threw spells back and forth a few times before Harry connected on a stunning spell and knocked Malfoy to his knees. Harry quickly said the disarming spell and caught his own wand in his hand. "Looks like Potter is not so perfect after all." Harry drawled sneering at himself.

Malfoy didn't know what to say. He wasn't expecting Harry to win and let everyone think that he had got the best of him finally after all these years. "Will you two ever grow up?" Ginny said shaking her head. She went over and took Harry's wand and led their group up toward the Gryffindor common room.

"Why the hell did you let Malfoy beat you?" Ron said when they were out of earshot of the Slytherins. "You could have taken him easily."

"I just didn't protect myself enough." Draco said trying to play it down.

"It was weird though, he was fighting fair. He never fought fair before. It's kind of ironic that he beats you the first time he plays fair. Maybe that's why he won, you were waiting for some sinister move." Ron babbled on and on for a while. They all sat in front of the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room. Draco liked their common room better than his own. Slytherins was cold and unfriendly.

Ginny went and sat next to Draco on the couch. She snuggled up next to him. She knew that her brother would suspect something if she just sat next to him. "Draco was bound to win one of their fights. He is a good wizard and very skilled in duels. He just gets cocky and is thinking too far ahead. If he paid closer attention he would be able to block half the spells fired his way."

"I just don't like the fact that so many Slytherins saw Harry loose." Ron said.

"It might be a good thing," Justin said in her know it all voice. "They might think Harry is weak and report back to Voldemort. If Voldemort underestimates Harry's powers it will be a huge advantage the next time they meet."

"Hermione's right," Draco said. He had never imagined himself saying those words in his life. "Besides the Slytherins were beginning to think that Malfoy was loosing his edge. This is just what he needs to keep the suspicions that he may have switched sides down to a minimum."

They talked up until it was time for rounds. Draco leaned over and kissed Ginny on the cheek before getting up to do his rounds. Ginny winked at him. They were meeting in the room of requirement after prefect rounds to switch back into each other. Draco ran into Remus during his rounds.

"Harry, I talked with Dumbledore and he is fine with you inviting Malfoy to headquarters for Christmas holidays. Tonks is excited; she seems to think we all will get to know the 'real Draco' as she calls him. All I know is that we don't want him forced to join the Death Eaters. You can tell him we worked it all out." Remus told him.

"I know he'll appreciate not having to stay here by himself." Draco said. "Besides we are a lot alike. We were both raised in houses where we were hated and tortured. The only difference in our childhood was that he was rich and was terrified his father would hurt him if he didn't act like he was told to."

"You two seem to have gotten to know each other a lot better. Are you two friends now?" Remus asked curiously.

"We are partners in potions and have talked a few time during our prefect rounds I wouldn't say that we are friends. But we aren't enemies anymore." Draco told him.

"So if you aren't enemies why were you dueling in the entrance hall after dinner?" Remus asked smiling.

"We decided that we have to act like we still hate each other so the Slytherins don't suspect and turn on him." Draco said truthfully.

"So that's why you let him win? I was wondering what was going on." He said.

Draco rushed off to the room of requirement. He only had a few minutes until the potion wore off and didn't want anyone seeing him walking around in Gryffindor robes. He was the last one there. "So, who had anyone realize you weren't who you looked like?" Hermoine asked, still looking like Justin but using her own voice.

"Ginny realized I wasn't Harry when she kissed me. Sorry Harry, I didn't know what to do. She realized right away and flipped out. Then she remembered we were working on Polyjuice in class and put it all together." Draco said not looking at Harry. He was overprotective of Ginny and wouldn't like the idea that she kissed him.

"It's ok, she thought she was kissing me and no harm was done since she could tell it wasn't me. I'm very glad she could tell the difference." Harry told him.

Hermoine had told Justin about Hannah asking him out and how he would have to decide and tell her tomorrow. He still seemed shocked that she has asked him out. "I don't know what to do. I think she's great and we are good friends, but what happens if it all blows up in our face?" He asked her.

"I don't know what to tell you. All I can say is look how happy Ron and I are or Harry and Ginny and we were all very good friends before we got together." She said.

Harry and Ginny continued to have lessons from Snape on Tuesdays. Ginny had finally gotten the hang of blocking her mind. Snape was pleased with her progress. Ever since his near death experience he had been nice to them, telling them when they were doing well and not even yelling when they weren't up to his standards.

Harry had completely mastered Occlumency and was getting good at Legilimency. Snape had stopped placing thoughts into his pensive. Since he had told Harry the truth there was no point in hiding them anymore. Harry concentrated on reading Snape's thoughts and all of a sudden images were whizzing past him. He hadn't even said the spell yet. He was able to do Legilimency without his wand! He tried again and this time focused on finding memories about his mother to see if he could extract specific information. He had read a book that outlined how to search through others thoughts. He loved how he could get into the restricted section with his invisibility cloak.

Harry tried again and instantly an image of his mother was before him. She was yelling at his father for being immature. Then she turned and smiled at Snape. He could feel the love surge through his professor for his mother and it was quite unnerving. He pulled himself out of Snape's mind and looked at his professor.

"How did you do that Potter?" Snape asked surprised. "I was putting all of my effort into blocking you and I could barely tell you were in my mind. It seems you are a natural at this as well as a very good thief." Snape explained that only the best could enter someone's mind without that person realizing they were in there. "Try it on Miss Weasley and see if she can notice when you enter."

Harry turned to Ginny and smiled. He concentrated on finding thoughts and memories of him and then dove into her mind. He saw many memories of them kissing and talking. Suddenly an image of an older Ginny walking down an aisle with a long white dress on flooded his mind. He watched as she walked toward and older version of himself smiling at her. Harry stopped looking and turned to face the real Ginny.

"Have you started yet?" She asked, obviously not able to detect his intrusion.

"Did you have a vision of our wedding?" Harry asked her grinning. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to scare you off; we are only 16 after all. Besides I kind of liked keeping that one to myself." She said smiling. "So I take it you had no problems breaking into my mind?"

"No, I'm sorry. But I promise not to do that without your permission. I may be skilled at Legilimency but that doesn't mean I'll use it on you or any of my friends." Harry told her seriously. "This is just to help in the fight against Dark Wizards."

"I know Harry." Ginny said sending him a thought of her wrapping her arms around him and kissing him fiercely. He looked surprised for a second and then grinned.

"The next thing I want you to learn is thought projection." Snape told him. "If you hone your skill you will be able to project a thought into other's minds. For example if you wanted to let someone know to move out of the way in a battle without alerting the enemy you could think it and send that thought to the other person who would be able to get the thought. You will also be able to receive thoughts from anyone who is willingly sending them to you. For example Miss Weasley could imaging meeting you in the entrance hall and send you that thought. You would then know to meet her in the entrance hall. This is not to be used during classes in any form, am I understood?"

"Yes sir. I am not a cheater and would never use these powers for that purpose." Harry told him. "I will work on that for next week."

"You still need to stay focused on your Occlumency, don't ever forget to close your mind. Even during the day you should keep your barrier up." Snape told them. "If you get in the habit of blocking your thoughts at all times your barrier will continue to grow until your mind is impenetrable."

"So you're going to marry me huh?" Harry said holding her tight that night on the astronomy tower.

"Only if you keep making me feel this lightheaded with your kisses." Ginny told him as they continued kissing.

"Christmas is in less than a month, are you going to tell your parents about us before then or just surprise them with it when we get there?" Harry asked her.

"Surprise them, that way they can't freak out and decide not to let me stay in the same house as you." She giggled. "I don't think they will mind. They love and trust you. It's my brothers you might have to worry about, but Ron should be able to help with them. We'll just have to get them really good presents so they forget about us."

Harry laughed, he was glad she wasn't nervous about telling her parents. Having Tonks and Remus there would help as well. "I love you Gin." He told her as they made their way into the castle.

The list to sign up to stay at the castle for Christmas holidays went up the next day. By the end of the week not a single student had signed up to stay. It was an all time low for Hogwarts. Professor Dumbledore stood up at dinner. "I have seen that no one had signed up to stay at the castle over the holidays. If anyone is planning on staying please let me know after dinner so we can make proper arrangements. I realize that it is important to spend time with friends and family during this trying time in history and encourage everyone to have as much fun as possible over the coming break."

"No one is staying?" Hermoine asked shocked. "That means that all the professors will be the only ones here. That can't be fun for them; I bet they wish they had someplace to go as well."

Harry smiled; he should invite the professors for Christmas as well. The house was definitely large enough. He concentrated on imaging Headquarters decked out in holiday decorations and sent the thought to Professor Snape alone with the thought of "All professors welcome." He looked up to see Snape look at him and nod before turning to whisper to Dumbledore who smiled and winked at Harry.

"Did you just invite all the professors for Christmas?" Ginny asked him knowingly. She had wondered why Snape and Dumbledore had been in her vision of Christmas at Harry's. As a response Harry sent her an image of them kissing under the mistletoe.

The weeks flew by and soon they were all getting ready to go to Headquarters. Remus had promised to take them shopping in Diagon Alley so they could buy Christmas presents for everyone. The only professors coming were those in the order, which by now also included Madame Pomfrey and Professors Sprout and Flitwick. Harry had decided to put them all in the same wing of the house. Everyone else was in their usual spot. He hadn't decided where to put Malfoy yet. He was debating putting him in with Ron and taking over Sirius' bedroom for himself. He had decided over the summer that he was going to claim that room as his own.

They were all sitting around the fire in the common room discussing their Christmas plans. "Gran says she doesn't want to spend Christmas at St. Mungo's this year she says we should stay at home and have proper food." Neville said miserably. "It will just be her and me. I'll get to visit my parents, just not the 24th or 25th."

"I can talk to Remus and see if you two can come over to my house for Christmas." Harry told him watching Neville's face light up.

"Are you sure Harry? I don't want to get in the way of your first family Christmas." Neville told him.

"We are having a lot of people over Neville, you wouldn't be intruding. I just have to clear it with Remus. We have a lot of added security charms on our house and I'm not sure if we can change them that fast." Harry told him. He didn't want to risk the safety of headquarters.

"I understand, thanks for inviting me even if it doesn't work out." Neville said and went back to his room to finish packing.

They played exploding snap on the train ride home. Draco was in their compartment wearing an invisibility cloak. He had made a bid to do over writing his name down on the list to stay at school. All his Slytherin friends had commented on how sad he was that he couldn't spend the holidays with his father so he would rather stay at school than be reminded that his father wasn't at home.

Draco spent most the train ride petting Ginny's kitten Lightning. She seemed to like him a lot. She was snuggled up on his lap purring contentedly. He was looking out the window wondering what it would be like to spend the holidays with Potter and his friends when the door opened and Pansy came in followed by Crabbe and Goyle.

"You'll pay for sending Draco's father to prison. He should be here having fun with us but instead he's still at school. You are not going to win; you should just give up now." Pansy spat. Harry probed into her mind and realized that she was in love with Draco and thought by picking a fight with them she could prove herself worthy of him.

"The Dark Lord will free our fathers and Mr. Malfoy and they will destroy you." Goyle said surprising everyone with the ability to string an entire sentence together.

Harry smiled and pulled out his wand. "You don't want to fight me." He said menacingly. "Now leave us alone." He could see Pansy falter and knew Crabbe and Goyle were scared to take him on without their fearless leader.

"I'm not afraid of you," Pansy said clearly lying. She was remembering Draco beating him when the fought last. Harry smiled, his plan of making the Slytherins believe he was weak worked.

"You may not be afraid of Harry, but you damn well better be afraid of me." Ginny said pointing her wand at Pansy and Ron, Hermoine, Neville and Luna stood up and pointed their wands at Crabbe and Goyle. Draco watched amused. His 'friends' didn't stand a chance against Potter and his gang.

"You are lucky Draco isn't here or you'd all be sorry." Pansy said stalking away with Crabbe and Goyle in toe.

"That was interesting." Hermoine said when they were all seated again. "I wonder what got into her; she's never picked a fight with us before."

"She's upset that Draco isn't here. She thought that she could prove herself worthy of him by taking me on." Harry said trying not to laugh as he looked toward the invisible Draco. "She's in love with you,"

"She's what?" Draco asked. He had never given Pansy the time of day and tried to be as mean to her as possible. Why would she love him?

"She's in love with you. Didn't you know that?" Ginny asked. "I realized that back in 3rd year. You should have seen how giddy she was when you took her to the Yule Ball."

"Ugh, how do I always attract all the girls I would never want and the ones that I do want are never attracted to me?" Draco said miserably.

"Maybe she's not that bad," Hermoine added. "We were wrong about you; maybe we are about her as well. She could just be doing all this to impress you."

"No, I've seen her torture house elves. She enjoyed every second of it. She's a Death Eater wanna be. Our parents were friends; I've known her all my life. She loves my last name and all the power and money that comes with it. She's also in love with someone who doesn't exist. She loves the person I've pretended to be my entire life." Draco told them all. "I don't think there is any hope for her. She is excited about joining the Death Eaters. She's even had her robes and mask made already. I will be surprised if she doesn't turn up after the holidays with a dark mark."

"How many other Slytherins are going to join over the holidays?" Harry asked sadly. He hated the thought of having to fight his classmates.

"Only a few. They won't take Crabbe and Goyle yet or anyone who isn't at least 17. They want to make sure we are old enough to accept responsibility for our actions." Draco said bitterly. "They are also only taking those whose parents are Death Eaters or supporters. They don't have to have their loyalty tested as much as others who join."

"Pansy's parents are Death Eaters?" Ron asked. "We didn't know that."

"Her father is one. Her mother is like mine, they sit on the sidelines. They do what they are told and don't ask questions. They often are used as 'entertainment' during parties and such." Draco hated talking about things like that. He had witnessed his mother doing a striptease at one those parties one night when he had snuck out of his room to see what they were like. He stayed in his room after that.

They went back to playing cards for the rest of the trip. They all piled into ministry cars when they arrived and were escorted to the minister's office. They had a secure connection to the floo network from his fireplace. They were soon all standing in the living room of Harry's house.

Chapter 22: Healing the Mind

"Nice house Potter." Draco said removing the invisibility cloak and looking around. "And here I thought we would be squished into your house like sardines."

"You're not the only one with money anymore Malfoy." Ron said setting his trunk down enjoying the look on Malfoy's face.

Harry showed them all their rooms and put his trunk in his new room before going down to the kitchen to find Dobby and Winky. He had kept in contact with his house elf friends while he was at school but was excited to see them again.

He walked into the kitchen and Dobby ran up to hug him. "Dobby missed his master when he was at Hogwarts." Dobby said standing back to let Winky hug him as well.

"Welcome home Harry sir." She said smiling. "Is there anythings you need from Winky?"

"No, the house looks wonderful. I can't wait to see how you decorate it for Christmas." Harry told them. "We are going to have a full house for the holidays. I want to make sure everyone has a good time. There is one person that is here that you will not expect Dobby. He has changed a lot since you last knew him. Please extend him common courtesy, but if he does anything rude or mean to either of you I want you to tell me immediately, ok?"

"Yes sir," Dobby said wondering why he would need such warning. "Who is it?"

"It's Draco Malfoy," Harry said watching Dobby's eyes get huge. He looked terrified. "He has changed Dobby and is on our side now. His father is in Azkaban. I'm sure you witnessed the horrible things his father did to him. He forced Draco to act that way and when his father was sent away Draco was finally free to be the person he really is. I know it will be hard on you, so if you would prefer I'll have Winky wait on him so you two do not have much interaction."

"If you says he is changed then Dobby believes you sir." He said bowing. The door to the kitchen opened just then and in walked Ginny and Draco.

"Dobby?" Draco asked surprised. "I never expected to see you again. My father said he had killed you."

"No, your father accidentally freed Dobby by presenting him with a sock. He has been my friend for quite some time and is now working here." Harry told him.

Draco smiled, "I am sorry for all the horrible things my family did to you. I am also glad you found a new family to serve that will treat you well." He said him.

"Dobby accepts Draco sirs apology." Dobby said bowing and almost running from the room. He did not know how to react to having a Malfoy apologize to him.

"Thank you for that Draco." Harry said, "Dobby and Winky are very special to me and I am glad that you have also learned respect for house elves as well."

"Good thing Hermione is not here or she would be bawling." Ginny laughed as they all grabbed a Butterbeer and headed for the drawing room.

They all flooed to Diagon Alley the next morning to go Christmas shopping. They went to Gringotts first to get their money. Draco cleaned out half of his vault and placed it in a new vault that only he had access to in case his mother cut him off for not coming home for Christmas. Tonks transfigured Draco's hair to be red and he was wearing his only set of robes without the Malfoy crest. It was the only way to not be recognized by anyone from school.

They spent all day shopping and having a great time. Their friends from school that they saw seemed to think that Draco was just another Weasley relative and didn't ask questions. Harry had most of his shopping done except for Ginny, Remus and Tonks. "Who do you have left?" Harry asked Malfoy.

"Ginny and Tonks," Draco said. "How about you?"

"Ginny, Remus and Tonks." Harry told him laughing. I guess we saved the hardest for last. "Come on there's got to be something good out there we just have to find it!" They walked into a jewelry store in hopes of getting ideas. Harry spotted an interesting charm bracelet. "What about this for me to get Ginny?" He asked Draco.

"That is a very unique bracelet." The sales lady said walking over to them. "It is made of solid silver and each pendant has a different charm attached to it. We can fashion an additional charms you would like." There were four charms on it now a wand, heart, rose and star. The heart had a charm where the wearer could sense how people felt about them, the star was a charm that let you see the stars without a telescope, the rose had a charm to always smell like roses and the wand had a magic amplifying charm on it.

"I will take it, but I will need a few more charms crafted. A broomstick preferably shaped like a Nimbus 3000, with an anti-falling charm. A quaffle with a speed charm put on it. A snitch with an increased reflexes charm on it. A kitten with a charm to allow her to be able to find her cat at a moments notice, it should be a black kitten with a lightning bolt on its head and green eyes. And I want one shaped like Hogwarts with a very strong protection charm on it." Harry told the lady.

"That will be very expensive and will take a few days to complete." The lady told him looking skeptically at him.

"I will pay you three quarters now," Harry told her. "And the rest when I have it picked up." He paid her the sum, which even made Draco raise and eyebrow. "Either Remus Lupin or one of the Weasley men will be in to pick it up. I want it wrapped and ready for Christmas when they get it." The sales lady nodded and smiled, she would have a very merry Christmas herself with the commission she would get from his purchase.

They went to a clothing and gift store next. Draco decided to buy Tonks a t-shirt that said "I'm not who you think I am." It was bright pink and the writing changed colors. They laughed at how appropriate it was. They were in the back of the store near the novelty items when Draco howled with laughter and pulled Harry over to a display of stuffed animals. They all had t-shirts on them that said "I Love Harry Potter" and the O in love was shaped like a heart. Harry couldn't even fathom the display. Malfoy grabbed a purple teddy bear with one of the shirts and went to pay for it along with the t-shirt. He didn't notice Harry smile when he noticed a white jarvey shaped one. Jarvies were magical creatures that resembled large talking ferrets. He paid for it and had it wrapped for Malfoy for Christmas.

"These are some of our most popular items." The sales witch said to Draco as he bought the bear. Draco could barely hand over the money he was laughing so hard at Harry who looked like he wanted to burn the place down.

Draco bought Tonks a bunch of tricks from the twins shop. Harry practically had to drag him out of there so they could finish their shopping. They found a store that had unique gifts in it. Harry was looking at mirror that reflected other people's faces when you looked into it. He decided that would be funny for Tonks. "What do you think of this for Ginny?" Draco asked Harry. It was a beautifully carved trinket box. It was painted pale lavender and had silver hardware and details. It played a soft melody when opened and was lined with purple velvet. "She can put all the jewelry you give her in it."

"She'll love it," Harry said approving. Now they only had Moony to buy for. He was looking through a section called interesting one-of-a-kind books in hopes of finding something Remus would like. He spotted a book decked out in Gryffindor colors and pulled it off the shelf. He found himself looking at a picture of his father and his friends. The book was tilted "A Complete Guide to Marauder's Mischief." It didn't list an author. Harry flipped through the book and saw detailed descriptions of each one of their pranks including color photos. He had to buy this book for Remus. He also noticed two books side by side. One was a complete family history of the Evans family and the other was a complete family history of the Malfoy family.

"I think you might want to see this," He called over to Draco who took the book and flipped through it. They paid for the books, mirror and jewelry box and headed back to meet the others at the ice cream parlor. They stopped by the post office to send Malfoy's mother her present before they left to go back to Harry's.

They spent the rest of the night wrapping presents and helping Dobby and Winky decorate the house before the Professors and rest of the Weasleys arrived in the morning. Ginny decorated one small tree near the entry entirely in purple. Hermoine laughed at her, "Nobody could guess that purple is your favorite color now could they Ginny?"

The girls had a good time decorating. Ron complained to Harry and Draco about having to shop with them all day. "All they did was giggle and gossip!" Ron told them.

"You were the one that insisted on going with them instead of us mate." Harry laughed. "Draco here didn't giggle once, we had a few laughs but no girls giggling or gossiping."

Did you get all your shopping done?" Draco asked him trying to make conversation. Ron and he still didn't get along and he knew he would have to try hard to win his trust.

"Yeah, I hope Hermoine likes her present." He said nervously.

"From what I know of girls as long as it looks like you put some thought into their present they think it's the best thing they've ever gotten. Even if she hates it she will still like it because it came from you." Draco said. "Trust me on this; I have always been good with the ladies."

"So how come you don't have a girl now?" Harry asked him curiously. "You always seemed to have a few fawning all over you before, what changed?"

"I realized that most of the girls at Hogwarts only like me for my money just like they only like you for your fame and how they finally know Weasley's name because his father is Minister. Those are not the kind of girl I want. I want someone who I can have a conversation with, laugh with, enjoy being with not just for her looks but for what she has on the inside. Growing up a Malfoy I was always taught that I must end up with a pureblood woman that was the prettiest available." Draco told them.

"And you haven't found anyone who meets those requirements and is pretty on the inside?" Ron asked him.

"Yes I have, except she is completely in love with someone else and I'm happy for her. She deserves to be with someone like him way more than someone like me. I'll find someone someday that will be close to being as wonderful as her." Draco said not even bothering to hide the longing in his voice.

Harry watched Malfoy carefully. He had a feeling he knew who Malfoy was in love with. "What would you do if she ever gave you any indication that she returned the feelings?" Harry asked him.

"She will never give me that. I have seen her with him. He makes her the happiest woman ever and I would never jeopardize that. I asked her out once, but that was before I knew about him. She politely told me that we could never be more than friends and I accept that. I will never ask her for more. Besides I wouldn't want to get on his bad side again." Draco said confirming Harry's suspicions that he loved Ginny.

"So you think this is kind of like Snape's situation with my mother then?" Harry asked. "He loved her but she loved my father and only wanted friendship?"

"Yes, the similarities between the stories are quite scary. The only difference is that I won't turn to Voldemort to make him pay. I am content with them together; they really are perfect for each other. I would probably end up hurting her. I've never been good at showing my feelings and she would probably be miserable. She needs someone who isn't afraid to give up everything to love her" Draco told him.

"So what did you get her for Christmas then?" Ron asked Draco.

"A jewelry box" Harry said watching as Malfoy nodded. "He got one for Ginny too," Harry said covering. If Ron even suspected that Malfoy liked Ginny there would be constant fights. Harry had listened to everything that Draco had said and was satisfied that he would never try to take Ginny from him. If anything, Harry knew there was another person who would protect Ginny with their life in case he ever failed.

Draco and Ron played chess many times over the next few days. Harry spent most the day lounging in the drawing room with Ginny either reading or talking. Hermoine was busy getting all her homework done. Harry had already finished all his assignments. He didn't tell Hermoine or Ron that he found school work to be almost boring now. He could perform almost any charm or spell after either hearing how to perform it or reading about it. His powers were growing steadily. Professor Dumbledore had even commented on his powers during their last wand less magic secession. Harry hardly even had to concentrate to perform spells without his wand anymore. Simple spells required almost no thought, only the more complex needed concentration.

Auror training with Tonks was boring still. They were still covering the finer points and prerequisites which meant a lot of reading and many quizzes where he would be led into a room and then blindfolded moments later and asked to recall every detail of the room. He was becoming increasingly aware of his surroundings and could tell when the slightest thing was off. One day she had moved Remus' desk a few inches and he could even tell that.

The professors all arrived looking excited to be out of the castle for a while. Flitwick went around examining all the trees and was delighted to discover the girls had left a few for him to decorate. McGonagall was in and out on Order business, but even she seemed in festive spirits. Charlie and Bill showed up with armfuls of presents to put under the large tree in the drawing room. Bill had brought his girlfriend Fleur Delacour to join them for the holidays. Her little sister Gabrielle was with them. Death Eaters had killed Fleur's parents last summer and Gabrielle was staying with her when school was not in secession.

"Harrie, it is so good to see you again." Fleur said kissing his cheek. "I am so happie that you are letting us stay for Christemass." Bill had written Harry asking to surprise his family with the news that he and Fleur were finally together by inviting her for the holidays.

"It is my pleasure Fleur; I have a room set up for you and Gabrielle right next to Bill's. Just let me or my house elves know if you or she needs anything." Harry said noticing that her Veela charms were not having an effect on him.

Ginny came into the room and squealed at seeing her favorite brother. Bill picked her up and spun her around. "Hello little sis," he said setting her down. "You remember Fleur. She is joining me for the holidays and this is her sister Gabrielle." Bill said putting his arm around Fleur and smiling.

Ginny was happy Bill finally got the nerve to ask her out. He had been giving her English lessons since she started working in London, they spent a lot of time together, she knew that Fleur had to like him to spend that much time with him but he was still too shy to ask her. He was afraid her being part Veela was effecting his perception and that he may not really like her. "That's wonderful Bill. I am so glad you finally got up the nerve to ask her out. I have a surprise for you too." Ginny said grabbing Harry's hand and grinning. "I finally got up my nerve as well."

Bill looked from Ginny to Harry and was glad to see his sister look so happy. "You better be good to her Harry. You know what I'll have to do to you if you hurt her."

He told him seriously. As the oldest Weasley brother it was his responsibility to protect his baby sister, even if that meant going up against Harry Potter.

"I would never hurt her Bill; I'm in love with her." Harry told him making Bill smile and pull him into a hug.

"I knew you two would get together someday. I'm happy for you two." He said.

"I'll show you two your room if you want," Harry said turning to Fleur and Gabrielle. "Bill and Charlie are staying in the very next room."

Charlie joined them as they went upstairs to their rooms. "Now I just need to find myself a girl." He laughed seeing how happy Bill, Ron and Harry were with their girlfriends. "Even the twins are dating!" He said shaking his head.

"Fred and George got girlfriends?" Ginny asked shocked. "Who would put up with them?"

"Angelina Johnson for Fred and Alicia Spinnet for George." Charlie said laughing at his sister's shocked expression. "They came into the joke shop and the twins took them out to dinner. They are still in the beginning stages, so don't get to surprised"

"So that's why they looked so happy at the shop yesterday." Ginny laughed.

"What's even funnier is that Katie Bell was with them and she is dating Lee Jordan now!" Charlie said making them all laugh again.

"If Bill and Fleur want some alone time Ron is in a room by himself and you can sleep in there instead." Harry said winking at Ron's two brothers. Ginny smacked him on the arm.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and the twins arrived for dinner. Everyone was surprised by the revelations that Bill and Fleur were together and even more surprised when Ginny told them that her and Harry were together. Ron had told his mum as soon as he asked Hermoine out so they already knew about them.

"All my children are growing up," Mrs. Weasley said trying to hold back tears. She was happy for her kids but also wished they would have stayed young longer.

They all went to St. Mungo's at Neville's request to visit his parents. He had finally stopped being embarrassed by his parents' condition. They all arrived and said hello to Lockhart before heading over to the Longbottoms side of the room. Neville smiled and hugged his parents hello. His Gran kissed his mother on the cheek.

"Hello Mrs. Longbottom," Remus said entering the room. "I didn't expect to see you until Christmas Eve."

"It was very nice of you to invite us." She told him. "And very nice of you to visit Alice and Frank."

"Bellatrix did this," Malfoy said the sadness evident in his voice. "I'm so sorry Neville, for everything."

"They fought as hard as they could against the Dark Lord. I'm proud of them." Neville told everyone. Harry gasped and fell to his knees. He was overcome with emotions of pride and longing. He looked to Neville's parents. He could sense his father's pride in his son and his mother's longing to be able to communicate with him.

"What is it Harry?" Remus asked rushing over to him. Ginny was rigid and started floating off the floor again.

"The heir has the power to awake those who were thought to be beyond help. The heir has the power to undo the hurt caused by the evil curses." Ginny said in a harsh voice. Ron ran over to her and steadied her as she floated back to the floor. She opened her eyes and looked at Harry. "You have the power to save them Harry; you just have to find it within you."

"I can sense their emotions," Harry told them all. "Mr. Longbottom is feeling an enormous sense of pride for his son and Mrs. Longbottom is longing to be able to hold you Neville, she misses you horribly." He walked over and looked into the eyes of Mrs. Longbottom. He placed his hand on her face and focused on finding her within her own mind. Her mind was a vast wasteland with no active memories only fragments of a life once lived. Then he saw a door. He sent her the thought of opening the door. He focused harder on sending her the image of opening the door. Somehow he knew that if he could get her to open the door in her mind it would allow all her memories to flood back in.

Harry didn't know how long he stood staring at Neville's mother. Suddenly it was if a spark was ignited in her mind and the door disappeared and all her memories came rushing past him. He pulled out of her mind and smiled at her. "Welcome back Mrs. Longbottom, you have been lost for a very long time."

"James?" She asked him making Remus jump and Neville's gran pass out. Neville just stood there in awe, had his mother just spoke?

"No, I'm his son Harry. You see you were hit with the Cruciatus curse and have been lost inside your own mind for a long time. We grew up while you were sleeping." Harry said pointing at Neville who was crying.

"Neville? My little boy? You look so handsome and grown up." She said as she took a tentative step toward him.

"I've missed you mum," Neville said hugging her as if she would disappear at any moment. Remus and the rest looked shocked at Harry.

Ginny squeezed his hand, "You know the way, now help his dad." She told him.

Harry went over to Mr. Longbottom whose mind was not quite as empty as his wife's had been. He was left with a memory of Neville's first steps and a few scattered others. Harry found the door faster this time and immediately sent the message of opening the door to Mr. Longbottom. It only took a few minutes before the memories flooded past him. "Welcome back Mr. Longbottom, you have missed a lot." Harry said.

"You look just like James, but I remember him dying." Frank said looking at him.

"I'm his son Harry, perhaps you remember me as a baby the same age as your own son. You see you have been lost a long time and we grew up while you were." Harry said pointing at Neville who still hadn't let go of his mother.

"Neville, Alice." He said walking to them and joining their embrace. Ginny hugged Harry and watched the wonderful family reunion. Remus had gone to get a healer and Hermoine and Ron were trying to revive Mrs. Longbottom who kept re-fainting every time she looked at her son again.

"Gran, come on it's ok. They are really better. We can be a family again." Neville said still crying with joy. Old Mrs. Longbottom was helped off the floor and joined the hugging family. Harry looked over at Draco who had a tear running down his cheek. He nodded to Ginny who went over and hugged him. He smiled and gave Harry a thumbs up sign.

The healer ran in followed by Remus. "How is this possible? I never thought this could happen? What changed?" She asked looking around at the room of happy people.

"It's just a holiday miracle." Draco said realizing that the truth could not get out.

"Yes, one minute they were like they have been and the other they were fine." Harry told the skeptical healer. "Perhaps the effect of the curse wears out over time and by having so many people around they were finally able to break out of it. They were two very fine Aurors after all."

They all headed to headquarters to debrief the Longbottoms of what had been going on since their attack. It would be the only safe place for them once the papers heard of their recovery. They were given a clean bill of health by the healers and allowed to leave for the first time in thirteen years. Remus had called an emergency Order meeting but hadn't told anyone why. They were all assembled when the group walked in with the Longbottoms.

"Frank! Alice!" Professor McGonagall yelled out causing cries of joy to ripple though the group. It was a happy celebration and the only time they could recall a meeting being held for such a happy occasion.

"The papers will call it a miracle but in truth it was Harry who saved us." Alice told them all. "He got into our minds and found where we were hiding and showed us the doorway out."

"Let me propose a toast to Harry Potter, he has reunited our family and I am eternally grateful. Three cheers for Harry." Frank said before they all chorused "Hip-Hip Horary." Even Malfoy joined in the cheering.

The next morning's Prophet hadn't sold out so fast since the headline that the Heir of Gryffindor had been found. In fact in one article a reporter was sure the Heir must be responsible for their miraculous recovery. "So you're the Heir of Gryffindor huh Potter?" Malfoy asked at breakfast. "I knew you were powerful, but the most powerful wizard ever. Remind me never to pick a fight with you again." He laughed.

There was no use hiding the fact from Draco and the Longbottoms. They had heard Ginny's prophesy. Draco took longer to get used to the fact that Ginny was a seer than the idea that Harry was the Heir. "You won't need to pick a fight anymore. Remember that the Slytherins watched you beat me and are convinced that I'm just lucky, not powerful." Harry told him

"Yes, but you were still the one to win that fight, even if you looked like me at the time." Draco reminded him.

"What?" Ron and Remus both said almost choking on their breakfast. Harry and Draco laughed and let Hermoine explain the project. Snape seemed mildly amused that they had staged a fight while in each other's bodies.

"I had to give all of them top marks. Ginny was the only one to suspect that Draco wasn't really Harry but since she is a seer I couldn't hold that against him. Plus he fooled you Remus, so I gave him extra credit." Snape told them making them all laugh.

"Yo, Snape. What's up with you, you seem almost relaxed and not soâ so" Fred said looking for a word to describe Snape's normal behavior.

"So you." George finished looking at his old potions master.

"Yes Severus, you do seem to have a much more pleasant demeanor lately." McGonagall said curious herself.

"I am no longer allowing the past to haunt my present. After Miss Weasley saved my life I have tried to take a more understanding approach to things." Snape said nodding at Ginny.

"I still say it's because he had a pretty girl's arms wrapped around him and it finally melted his shell." Draco said causing Ron to snort milk out his nose and the rest of the table to almost choke on their food.

"When did you get a sense of humor?" George asked Malfoy, "And when did Ginny save your life?" He asked Snape.

"Malfoy has always had a sense of humor he just used it against us before and I saved his life after having a premonition of him dying." Ginny told her brother.

"She saw a potion explode and hurl me across the room killing me and she pulled me out of the way seconds before it actually happened." Snape told the Weasleys.

"You're a hero," Gabrielle said speaking up for the first time since she arrived. She was looking at Ginny with admiration. "You are a hero like Harry; he saved my life once too."

"You speak English?" Bill said looking at the girl he had known for months. She always spoke French and Fleur had to translate.

Gabrielle laughed in her airy Veela tone. "It was so funny watching you think I only spoke French. I can speak English better than Fleur, but she didn't know that either." The little girl said giggling and looking at her sister who was trying to determine if she was angry or found it funny.

Fred and George looked at each other, and then winked at Ginny and Tonks. They could all see someone after their own hearts. "That was a brilliant performance there little V, you are a natural prankster." Fred said with admiration.

"Yes, you are most welcome in our shop at any time." George added smiling. Bill was going to have a handful watching that little girl!

"Why do you call me little V?" Gabrielle asked as she followed the twins out of the kitchen. Harry heard one of them answer that it was for little Veela.

Chapter 23: Training Area

Neville had never looked so happy in his life. He had his parents back; it was what he had always wished for. They spent the entire next day together with him filling him in on what had happened the last 13 years. They were happy that he had gotten into Gryffindor and was friends with Harry. They had been good friends with Lily and James before they died. Lily and Alice spent a lot of time together while they were pregnant. The Order had them work together and stay out of harms way until their babies were born. Dumbledore had even warned them about the prophesy.

Draco pulled Harry into the drawing room. He had wanted to talk with Potter since they were at the hospital. "How did you do it? How did you wake them?"

"I can do Legimency and I went inside their minds. When I was in there I found a door that I could not open. I sent them a thought to open the door. As soon as the door opened they were back in their right minds." Harry told him shrugging. He wasn't sure how he had done it, he just felt his way.

"Virginia's prophesy, it said that you could heal the hurt for the evil curses. Do you think you can release people from Imperious too?" Malfoy asked curiously. Harry shrugged again. "Has she had any other prophesies about you?"

"Yes, her first one was about me. It said that the heir of Gryffindor would bring about the defeat of the Dark Lord and usher in a peace that had never been known before." Harry told him. There was no point in lying now that Draco knew he was the heir. "You can't tell anyone I'm the heir; it can't somehow get back to Voldemort."

"You can trust me Potter. I might dislike the Dark Lord as much as you do. I hate my father and all that he stands for. He taught me that a Malfoy never answered to anyone and yet he follows the Dark Lord around like a lost puppy dog." Draco said.

"What would he do to you if he knew you had switched sides?" Harry asked.

"He'd probably kill me to prove his loyalty to the Dark Lord. Or he might accuse someone of brainwashing me and kill that person and drag me in to take my mark of loyalty." Draco said miserably. "He would rather see the Malfoy line end than to have me on what he feels is the wrong side."

"Why did you finally decide to change sides?" Harry asked him. He had been wanting to ask the question but was didn't think he would like the answer.

"I never wanted to join the Dark Lord but out of self preservation I pretended that I did and played the part of a good Slytherin. When I met Amanda, or Tonks, I finally got a glimpse of what life could be like. I still wasn't ready to throw everything away until I met Virginia. You know what kind of an effect she can have. I realized that I wanted a life with someone like her. Someone who would actually love me for who I was, not what my name was. I decided that even if it cost me my life it was better than living a lie." Draco told him hoping he wouldn't hit him for talking about Virginia.

"I understand what kind of effect she can have on a person," Harry smiled. "I know you wish she could be with you. I trust her and know that she will never think of you except for friendship. For some reason I also trust you. I have no problems with you two being friends." Harry told him smiling at the shocked look on his face.

"You trust me after everything that I have done to you and Weasley and Granger over the years?" Draco asked skeptically. "You can trust me though. I wouldn't have done anything before and now that I know you are the heir and the most powerful wizard to have ever lived I will definitely not be getting on your bad side by making a play for your girl." Draco laughed.

"Will your mother be upset that you didn't come home?" Harry asked him.

"Yes, and I am sure I will get a nasty note from my father about how I'm letting the family down. He already thinks I'm soft and a disappointment as a son. With what he considers a good son to be it's almost a compliment to be called a disappointment." Draco told him smiling. "As long as he is still stuck in Azkaban I'll be fine. If he ever gets out I will have to sleep with my eyes open. He is not someone you want on your bad side."

"After I freed Dobby he pulled his wand on me. Luckily Dobby threw him across the room for me or I would have been feeling some pain," Harry said and then told him the entire story around the house elf's freedom.

Ginny came in while they were taking and sat in between them on the couch. She smiled and leaned into Harry as the boys discussed Quidditch and seeker moves. It was their favorite topic and she wondered how they never tired of it.

Remus and Tonks were happy to be home. They didn't have to keep their relationship low key when they were at Grimwald Place. They spent the days reading while cuddled up on the couch in the living room. Harry was happy for Remus, he had never looked so happy before.

Tonks pulled Harry aside after lunch. "Tonight is a full moon, are you joining us downstairs?" She asked him quietly. They hadn't even told most of the Order about his anamagi form or that his is the Heir.

"Yes, Ron is covering for me if the Weasley's ask any questions. I'll use my cloak and sneak down there." Harry told her. He was excited. It was his first full moon adventure with Moony. He had read the book about the Marauder's adventures that he was giving Remus for Christmas and was excited to follow in both his real fathers' footsteps and his adopted fathers.

"Remus is already pale and will stay in bed the rest of the day. Ginny and Draco finished brewing the wolfsbane with Snape before lunch. He looked a little better after taking it." She told him with concern evident in her voice.

"Do you love him?" Harry asked her. He wanted to know how serious they were getting. He talked with Moony often but they avoided talking about relationships.

"Yes I do. I don't care what other people think about our age difference or that we work together. I'm finally happy for the first time in a long while." She said smiling at him. "I don't plan on ever being apart from him. Are you ok with that?"

"Sure. I've never seen him so happy since you two got together. Why do you think I asked you to move in? I knew you would be good for each other. Besides, I like having you around too." Harry said watching her blush. "I didn't think Aurors blushed, isn't that against some rule? I'll have to go check my book for that one." He teased.

"There are only rules about blushing when on duty and as you can see I am not working today." She grinned. "Did you know that you would be the forth generation of Potter to be an auror?"

"My great grandfather was an auror too? I didn't know that." He said smiling. "I guess that is why my first choice job is being an auror. My second choice is teaching DADA, so right now you have both my dream jobs."

"You are doing very well with DA this year. It is easy to tell which of my students are members when they work in class. The Slytherins are starting to get frustrated that the Gryffindors keep beating them in duels." She chuckled. "All the houses are doing better except Slytherin. I think your DA members are passing on what they learn to others in their house."

"That and the number of members keeps growing." Harry told her. "I am glad that my core group is still small. It's just Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, Draco, Luna, the Creevys, Justin and Hannah. They are doing incredible, especially Neville. His confidence keeps growing and so do his skills with a wand. It's so amazing watching someone grow in their abilities."

"Fred and George told us about how good you were at teaching DA last year. They were wondering how you had found the room of requirement when they hadn't eve discovered its uses." She laughed. "Is it true that you have a map of the castle that shows where everyone is inside?"

"Yeah, it is an original Marauder document. You should have seen the look on Moony's face when Snape called him into his office to examine the map." Harry explained the whole incident to her as she laughed her head off.

Snape walked out of the kitchen and noticed Tonks laughing. When she saw him she doubled over in a fit of laughter. "What could possibly be so funny?" He asked them.

"I was telling her the story of my when you were trying to open my map." Harry told him. "I was telling her about when you called Remus in accusing it of being full of dark magic."

"That was after you were in Hogsmead when you weren't supposed to with your invisibility cloak. I recognized the stupid nicknames of Remus and his 'Marauders' and that was why I called him." Snape said not able to hide the smile on his face. "Although I should not have been surprised that something made by your father would insult me."

"I thought I was dead for sure," Harry told him. "I knew you didn't believe my story that I was in the library studying and then my map insulted you. I was afraid you would snap and curse me into oblivion."

"Those guys came up with the best stuff," Tonks said dreamily. "It would have been so much fun to be at school with them."

"Only if you were on their side," Snape told her with a slight bitterness in his voice. "They weren't as humorous when you were the butt of their jokes."

"What did you do to them in the first place to get on their bad side other than being a Slytherin?" Tonks asked him curiously.

Snape smiled at the memory. "I might have mentioned something about Black's family and how they would love to know he'd been sorted into Gryffindor. Then I might have had his cousin send a letter to his mother. I was a good loyal pure blood Slytherin at the time." Snape smirked. "I was surprised that Potter was more upset with my meddling than Black was."

"So who were you trying to impress by ratting on Sirius?" Harry asked him knowing how the Slytherin mind worked.

"Black's cousin Narcissa. You know her now as Mrs. Malfoy." Snape said shaking his head in disgust. "She deserves to be with Lucius. She is as evil as he is but she hides it well. She is very good at seducing men into doing her will."

Draco had walked into the room during their conversation. "Seducing is not all she does to them. She is quite skilled at the Imperious curse." He told them all as he sat down at the table. "She still thinks you are devoted to her as you pretended to be in school sir." Draco told Snape.

"Yes, I figured that by maintaining my reputation of doing things to impress her I would not get on her bad side. Men who turn on her end up dead." Snape said sadly.

"She had been promised to my father since they were small. She is 5 years younger than him. He knew of her seductions and would even instruct her on whom to extort. She has bedded many ministry officials to gain inside information." Draco said with the disgust evident in his voice. "If I didn't look so much like my father I would never be sure that he was my real father."

"I wouldn't worry about that, Cissa is also skilled with memory charms. I heard your father bragging about how she charms the men into thinking they slept together without actually having to do it. He boasted how loyal she was to him and how he was the only man she had been with." Snape told Draco.

"That might have been the case until he was put in Azkaban. She had increased her involvement in the dark arts to show her loyalty to the Dark Lord. I wouldn't be surprised if she is actually a death eater now. My father had always had her maintain a distance from his darker associates to keep face with the ministry, but with him gone she has to take on those dealings." Draco told them all.

"How do you know all this? I wouldn't think she would volunteer so much information." Harry asked him.

"For that I will have to give the Weasley's the credit. Those extendable ears things are ingenious. I spent the greater part of the summer listening in on Death Eater meetings and other conversations and happenings. They use Malfoy Manor as a base of operations. It is unplottable, has every charm imaginable on it and has extensive dungeons and torture chambers." Draco said.

"Sounds charming," Tonks said sarcastically.

"You would think we were the perfect respectable pureblood family from the looks of the main house. There are several secret passageways you have to access to get to the dungeon levels. The ministry has raided the house several times and not found them" Draco said. "The nice thing about our house is that with all the charms on it I can practice magic whenever I want without the ministry knowing. That was how my father taught me all the dark curses I know."

They all sat talking until dinner. Winky had prepared another delicious meal. They had so many visitors in the house they actually used the formal dining room to eat their meal. With 23 people eating together it was hard to all fit in the kitchen. Remus sat at the head of one end of the table and Dumbledore at the other. Harry was still marveling at the grandeur of his house. The dining room could easily sit 70 people and the adjoining ballroom could hold hundreds of people.

They had held off renovating these two rooms until last as they were not needed. They had been filled with portraits and tapestries of dark creatures. Harry had Dobby and Winky use the tapestries and paintings from the vault to replace the ones of a dark nature. All the dark equipment that remained had been sent to the ministry for study. There were still many rooms that Harry had not even seen yet in his own house.

"This room is magnificent Harry," McGonagall said as she looked around.

"Yes, I thought it was time to open it up. We are growing in numbers and there is no use crowding into the kitchen." He told them all. "I figured this would make a better meeting room for the order as well since there are two fireplaces in here. It adjoins the ball room which I was thinking would make a good training facility. Order members can practice against each other to get the newer members up to the same standards as the others. We all need to be on top of our games to defeat Voldemort."

"You will have to demonstrate some of the new skills you are teaching members of your elite DA," Dumbledore said from the other end of the table.

Harry looked at him confused. "I would love to sir, but I am already in enough trouble with the ministry about underage wizardry."

"I found something interesting out yesterday when I accompanied Arthur to the ministry. It seems this house has a shield protecting it. The ministry has no record of magical activity in this location. I tested my theory and Arthur has confirmed that no magic can be detected while performed inside this house." Dumbledore told him smiling.

"So we can continue our DA lessons over the holidays?" Hermione asked excitedly. "Does this mean we are free to use magic here like we are at Hogwarts?"

"Yes, although I do urge caution. So Harry do you think you can set up a training exercise for the Order members to test their defensive and offensive abilities?" Dumbledore asked him.

"I will do my best sir. I'm sure with Dobby's help I can turn the ballroom into a first class training center. I'll use the members of DA that are here to test it and get ready for a demonstration to the Order." Harry told his professor. He had already been envisioning what type of training center he wanted to create before he ever mentioned the idea. He and Dobby had been developing sketches and plans since the summer when they discovered the room.

Harry and Tonks helped Remus down into the basement. The locked the door when everyone was watching and headed for bed. Harry slipped his invisibility cloak on and headed down to the basement. Tonks was just opening the door when he arrived and they went down to get into the cage with Moony.

"How you feeling there Moony?" Harry asked as he watched his dad lying on a mattress looking like he was an inch from death. "You're not looking so hot today."

"I feel and look the same before every transformation. You two better transform and get in here before the moon comes out." He told them weakly.

"Come on Camo lets get to it." Harry said as they stepped into the cage to lock it.

"Camo?" Remus asked smiling at Harry's nickname for her chameleon form. He had a good idea for a nickname for Harry as well.

"Yes. Moony meet Camo." Harry said smiling.

"Shut it Flames." Tonks said smirking at Harry. Remus looked at her strangely.

"That was what I was thinking of calling him so I guess its official. Welcome to the Marauders Flames." Remus said smiling even though he was in pain.

Harry ginned and he and Tonks transformed as Remus started to writhe in pain from starting to transform. Harry opened his mouth and sang one long note. Remus visibly relaxed while his body continued to change. Tonks rubbed her head against Harry's plumage to show her gratitude.

Harry watched as Tonks in her small chameleon form cuddled up to the big grey wolf. Moony placed a paw tenderly around her and looked over to Harry the phoenix. Harry flew over and landed on top of Moony settling down in his fur. The night went by uneventful. Moony fell asleep as soon as he felt Flames set upon him and Camo asleep in his arms.

Harry awoke in the morning and took a minute to realize he was in bird form. He was now lying next to Remus who looked very pale and in pain. Tonks was lying in his arms back in woman form. Harry smiled at how peaceful they looked together. Remus moved and groaned in pain placing his hand to his hip. Tonks looked closer and saw that his hip was dislocated. The older Remus got the more the transformation left lasting effects on his body. When he was young he never had broken or dislocated bones when he woke, but it was becoming a more regular thing now.

"We should have Madame Pomfrey fix that up. Do you want me to go wake her?" Tonks asked him. Harry cave out a short call to get their attention and then laid his head against his dad's hip. He cried two pearly tears and Remus' hip was back to normal.

"Thank you Flames, that was much less painful than Pomfrey's method. You are quite handy to have around." Remus teased as he ruffled Harry's scarlet feathers.

Harry transformed back into himself and punched Remus playfully in the shoulder. "So now I see how it is. You only want me in your little group because I can heal you."

Tonks and Harry helped Remus up the stairs to the kitchen. They forced him to eat before Tonks took him up to his room. Remus blushed as Harry winked at him on the way out the door. He hated that he was so weak after his transformations. He did feel much stronger today than most days after the full moon. He could remember the sound of Phoenix song as he transformed and how it helped him relax. He knew the actual transformation was what caused his weakness. The wolfsbane potion was a wonderful invention; he kept his mind when transformed.

"How did the potion work?" Draco asked sleepily as he walked into the kitchen and grabbed a cup of coffee. "Have you seen him yet this morning?"

"Yeah, he just finished breakfast and Tonks took him up to his room." Harry said. "The potion worked just fine. Thank you for helping to make it."

"I was curious about what was in it. It is a very complex brew." Draco said as he watched the doorway. "They look happy together don't they?" It was more of a comment than a question and Harry didn't know how he should respond.

"They are in love." Harry said simply.

"The only two women I've ever cared for are in love with your family. Snape and I should start a club." Draco said sighing. "Oh well, all is fair in love and war. Isn't that what the muggles say?"

"That's right," Harry said surprised the Prince of Slytherin knew anything about muggles. "It's more like its all fair as long as you are winning."

Draco laughed. "That is very true; the loosing side never fights fair. That's why the Death Eaters fight so viciously, they are on the loosing side."

What do they think the world will be like with Voldemort in charge? They can't seriously believe they will be better of can they?" Harry asked him.

"We've all had this pureblood is better mantra shoved down our throats since we were born. They think they will be the elite society, kind of like back when society was divided into classes. There will those purebloods that are faithful followers that will be the elite or the royal class, then the other pure bloods as the first class. Then the half bloods and dirty bloods will make up the bottom classes. Muggle born witches and wizards will never be taught how to use magic. The muggle world will be safe for a while until the Dark Lord decides to purge the earth of them too. If they had their way, they would kill off ¾ of the earth and only keep a few muggles around for servants and laborers." Draco told him.

"So that's what they fight for huh?" Harry said finally having an understanding of what a works run by the Dark Lord would look like.

"Yeah, they just don't realize that he will demand they do as he says. There will be no freedoms. It will be a dictatorship of the worst kind. His favorites will rule and if he ever dislikes something it will be destroyed with no though given to the consequences. Eventually there will not be enough people left and the population will die out as he remains frustrated and continues killing at random." Draco said. "They never think of him as a controlling mad man, only as their Lord."

"It's kind of how the other side sees you, except a million times more blind." Draco said shaking his head. "All the people who would believe whatever you said and think that you will save them from all the evils of the word, they are just the opposite of the Death Eaters. If you weren't such a damn noble person you could rule them just like Voldemort plans on ruling his new world."

"Blind devotion," Harry mumbled. "I just wish they would all think for themselves. We could have such an amazing world."

"There's the Potter know!" Draco laughed. "Always the idealist.

The girls all went shopping that afternoon leaving the boys to fend for themselves at the house. They even convinced Winky to go with them to Diagon Alley. Ron and Draco spent the afternoon playing Wizard's Chess and Harry and Dobby planned out their revisions to the ballroom.

They had a dueling stage set up on the near side of the room to allow for a dueling tournament of sorts. Then they set up a fighting arena. They had boxes draped with blankets and some fake trees to hide behind. Harry had studied a spell that could turn an inanimate object into a spell hurler. He had to perform the spell and then perform the spell he wanted it to hurl on it. He charmed several objects this way and arranged them around the area. He then charmed them to look like death eaters so those practicing would know where to aim their spells. Harry even managed to get them to disappear and reappear in a different location within the circle.

He places a circle around the area with a warning to enter at own risk. He had set the spell hurlers to increase in spell strength with the number of people in the ring as well as the length of time. He looked around pleased with his creation. In an open corner of the room he set up a combat area. He conjured different types of weapons. Tonks and he had been discussing the need to know how to defend oneself without magic. A mini classroom complete with chalkboard, desks and a fairly large library on DADA was against the wall.

The room was complete. It could have people practicing dueling, hand-to-hand combat, fighting death eaters and learning new spells at the same time. Harry was excited about showing off his progress to the Order. He had decided that he would have a dueling tournament with the DA members present. He was going to have Fred and George participate since they were in the DA last year and he was going to ask Fleur and Gabrielle if they wanted to as well.

He showed Draco and Ron the room first before any of the adults. "This is great Potter." Draco said impressed.

They played around with the weapons and read about how to use them until the girls got home. Harry explained his idea for the dueling tournament to showcase the skills they have learned in the DA. Fred, George, and Fleur agreed to participate immediately. Gabrielle was interested but Bill had to talk Fleur into letting her participate. She was worried her sister would get hurt going up against such older players. Gabrielle was only a 2nd year after all. Harry winked at Gabrielle when Fleur agreed.

"Even first years need to know how to defend themselves and their friends. When Ron, Hermione and I were in 1st year we fought a mountain troll and protected the Sorcerer's Stone from Voldemort." Harry told Fleur who paled slightly at the name. "Then in second year I had to fight a basilisk that was being set loose by Voldemort's memory." He usually hated telling that story but the look of admiration on the little Veela's face and the look of horror on Fleur's made it worth it.

Harry showed Dumbledore and the rest of the Order the room he had made. They were all impressed. "Tell me about the fighting area, how is it set up to fight?" Dumbledore asked.

"I have fake Death Eaters firing spells." Harry said vaguely. "Why don't you give it a go?" He wanted to see his headmaster in action.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as he pulled out his wand and headed for the fighting area. He was prepared to fight and then stepped over the line activating the spell hurlers. The first one popped out from behind a tree and fired a very weak stunner at him. He fired back a strong stunner and that triggered the hurler to disappear. Each time one was hit with a spell it would disappear and then reappear someplace else. Two appeared in front of him and he shot ropes out of his wand and tied them up. He continued to fight them for another few minutes before walking smiling out of the circle.

"That was a very good simulation." He told Harry as he put his wand away. "I think the ministry should look at how you did that and use it for auror training. It would be much more effective than straight dueling."

"So what do you have planned for a demonstration of the DA?" Remus asked him. He couldn't believe that Harry had set up such an elaborate training facility.

"We are going to have a dueling tournament." Harry said. "I was thinking of a round robin and then the top winners square off."

They decided to start the tournament that night. The adults all conjured chairs and sat to watch the duels. The rules were simple, the first person to gain control of the other's wand wins. The first pairing was Draco and Ron. They mounted the stage and bowed to each other before taking 10 paces, turning and firing their first spells.

They fought well against each other. Draco won in the end with a well placed spell that sent Ron hurling through the air. Draco quickly disarmed him before he landed and won the duel. The next pair was Neville and George. Neville put up a very effective protection charm and in the end defeated George by putting him in the full body bind. His parents jumped up and hugged him telling him how proud they were of him.

Hermoine went against Fleur. Fleur was very good but Hermoine got her in the end. Fleur looked startled that she had been beaten by someone so much younger than her. Fred grinned as he went up against Gabrielle. He was thinking it would be an easy showdown but she was very quick and dodged two of his spells. She hit him with a laughing charm and then took his wand.

"Way to go Gabrielle, showing my brother up!" Bill said smiling.

Harry winked at Ginny as they bowed to each other for their duel. He put up his protection charm with his mind as they paced apart. He was going to put on a good show without ever firing a shot. She shot spell after spell at him as he just stood there with his protection charm on. "Come on Harry, you're no fun!" She taunted.

Harry grinned and gave her a jelly legs curse and watched her dance around as she continued to try and break down his barrier. Snape told Harry to take down his barrier and see if he could dodge her spells without it. Harry did as instructed and put up a very good show of dodging her spells. He finally pointed his wand at her and yelled out the disarming charm. She put up her protective charm but it wasn't strong enough to withstand the power behind his spell andt he wand slipped from her fingers into his hand.

Harry walked to her and kissed her cheek as he handed back her wand. "Thank you for a wonderful duel." He told her as she shook her head.

"I was no match for you at all!" She said sadly. "Professor Snape will you fight him and see if we can have a proper match up?" She asked him.

Snape grinned evilly and climbed the stairs to the stage. "This should be fun Potter." He said as they bowed to each other. Harry knew he would have a much harder time against Snape than Ginny. He was also looking forward to trying some of his spells from his personal arsenal that he had been practicing with Tonks and Dumbledore.

Harry spun and shouted "Smokortia." Dense blue smoke shot from his wand and blocked Snape's view of him. It also tickled Snape's senses and he had to fight not to cough as he countered with a stunning spell what Harry easily dodged. Snape stepped through the smoke moving closer to Harry. Harry shouted "Levilminia" and Snape spun upside down in the air suspended invisibly from his ankles. Harry immediately yelled "Silencio" and Snape couldn't speak.

Snape pointed his wand at his own mouth and concentrated hard on the counter curse for Silencio. He felt the curse lift and yelled the disarming charm at Harry. Although the spell hit Harry he was still able to hold onto his wand. Harry raised his eyebrow at Snape with a smirk before yelling the disarming charm and watching Snape's wand soar through the air to him.

Harry righted his potions professor and handed him his wand back. "I'm sorry sir, but I couldn't help but use that charm. Ever since I saw that memory in your pensive I've been researching to find that charm. I figured it was only appropriate to use it on you first."

Snape shook his head. Ever since James had used that charm and exposed his under things to everyone he had worn pants under his robes. He actually thought it was an interesting spell to use during a fight. "You are a Potter so I can't hold that against you." Snape smirked as the tournament continued.

Draco beat both Fred and George much to their dislike. Ron beat Gabrielle but lost to Fleur thanks to her Veela abilities. Neville beat both Ginny and Hermoine surprising all the professors and making his mother cry with joy. Hermoine beat Fred, Ginny beat Gabrielle and George beat Fleur.

Everyone was tired who had been dueling and went to bed to rest up for the next day's tournament. Harry and Ginny only stayed in their secret room snogging for half an hour before Ginny started to fall asleep.

They were all discussing what type of spells to use during breakfast. A good number of Order members came by to watch the tournament. The house was full of people. Many of the members were impressed with Harry's training facilities. One man Harry couldn't remember meeting asked if he could bring his daughter to watch the rest of the tournament. "She is in a group at school that practices defense spells and I think she would like to watch."

"I'm sure Harry would love to have Luna here Mr. Lovegood." Remus said coming up behind Harry smiling.

"Sure, Luna can take my place in the tournament. I would rather just watch their progress." Harry said smiling that Luna's father was in the Order. Harry liked Luna; she was her own person and didn't care what anyone else thought of her. "She is in my elite DA group at school and is very quick with her wand."

Mr. Lovegood returned shortly with Luna in toe looking even stranger in muggle clothing. She started out by dueling against the twins. She beat George and lost to Fred who was still reeling from loosing to Gabrielle the night before. Neville beat Fleur and Fred and Gabrielle. Hermoine beat Gabrielle and lost to George. Ginny lost to Draco but beat Ron. Draco beat Gabrielle and Hermoine. Luna beat Hermoine and Gabrielle. Fleur beat Ginny and Fred. Ron beat Luna and George.

They broke for lunch. Winky had set up a buffet table for them all to eat off of since there were so many additional Order members there watching. "This is a great tournament; you should have one like this at school when you get back." Kingsley told Harry as they ate.

"Yes, you could make it a single elimination type tournament. Everyone competes against students in their own year and then the winners of each year duel to find the winner." Delagus Diggle said in his tiny voice.

"I think it would be a wonderful idea of how to get the students more involved." Professor Sprout said.

"We could have in-house challenges and determine a winner from each year in each house to participate in a round robin tournament against the other winners." Professor Flitwick interjected.

"I like that idea. Then we could continue the dueling club that idiot Lockhart tried to start for students who want to keep participating." McGonagall told them all.

"It will give us a better idea of which students we need to keep our eyes on." Snape told them all.

"It's settled then. We will hold a dueling tournament when school resumes and will allow the students to participate in a dueling club. We will only allow the club to meet once a month so as not to take away from the other activities." Dumbledore said.

"Who is going to run the tournament and the club?" Tonks asked hoping that it didn't automatically fall to the DADA professor.

"I will run the tournament but I will have volunteers from the faculty run the club." Dumbledore told her smiling.

They got back to the tournament. Even more Order members had shown up to watch after hearing about it from other members. Hermoine finished up by beating Ron and loosing to Ginny. Ron finished by loosing to Neville but beating Fred. Ginny finished by beating her twin brothers. George finished by loosing spectacularly to Fred and then beating Gabrielle. Luna finished by loosing to Draco, Neville and Fleur. She didn't have a good afternoon. Madame Pomfrey had to tend to a few wounds of hers. Fleur finished by loosing to Draco and beating her sister. Draco and Neville were the last to square off. They were both undefeated and were determined to win the tournament.

"Since this is the final match to win my little tournament here I thought we should change the rules slightly. This will be a no holes barred match. You can perform any legal spell against the other to gain their wand." Harry said as everyone looked on in wonder. Up until yesterday Neville was thought of as a clumsy boy who wasn't very good at anything except herbologry, now he was an accomplished dueler. The teachers didn't know what to think about this side of Neville.

Draco had been surprised at how good Neville was but he wasn't going to loose to Longbottom, not without a fight at least. The duel lasted almost a half an hour before Draco resorted back to his old ways and yelled out "Serpentsortia" like he had during second year with Harry and a snake flew out of his wand at Neville. Neville had no idea how to block a snake strike and was too busy worrying about the snake to hear Malfoy yell the disarming charm.

Without his wand he was defenseless against the snake. "Harry!" Neville yelled to his friend who was a parselmouth. Harry walked closer to the stage and could hear the snake laughing.

The snake was saying, "Why would I want to bite this boy, he is terrified of me. See." It said taking fake biting motion towards Neville who trembled.

"Why would you want to bite anyone? Haven't you heard about all the diseases that are transmitted by blood nowadays? You could end up dying because you bit the wrong person." Harry hissed at the snake.

The entire Order was watching the ordeal wondering what was going on between Harry and the snake that had stopped moving toward Neville and was watching Harry with interest.

"There are really blood diseases out there like that?" The snake said curiously. "Are they only from people or can I get one from animals I eat as well?"

"I don't know; let me ask my friend who seems to know everything." Harry said and turned to Hermione and asked her, "Hermoine can a snake get a disease from contact with dirty blood like humans can? Will he be able to catch stuff from animals as well as people?"

"I haven't heard of a snake with HIV before, but I suppose it's possible. I know rats carry lots of diseases so I wouldn't eat them if I were a snake." She said shrugging.

Harry turned back to the snake. "She said she doesn't know if you could catch anything but she knows that rats carry lots of diseases so she advised staying away from eating them as best you can."

"Thanks mate, can you have your shiny friend send me back now please." The snake asked turning back toward Draco.

"He wants you to send him back Draco." Harry said as Malfoy performed the counter curse. "Congratulations for winning the tournament." Harry said shaking his hand and Neville's.

"You were bloody brilliant up there Neville," Ron said patting his friend on the back.

"Yes, thank you for such a good fight Longbottom." Malfoy said holding out his hand to Neville. They shook hands and Neville went to talk with his father about the duel.

"Well done Longbottom," Snape said approaching Neville who still trembled in the presence of the teacher. "I just wanted to tell you that although you make a horrible potions maker I would be glad to have you on my side in a fight. You are very quick and surprisingly nimble during your duels. You will make a fine magical law enforcement officer or hit wizard with those reflexes as well as a great fighter for the cause."

Neville just stared at Snape. He couldn't believe he had actually complimented him. He never expected Snape to be so nice to him. "Thank you sir." Neville squeaked out before rushing away and over to his mother.

Snape chuckled and turned to Frank Longbottom. "I'm afraid I may have been too hard on him. He is so forgetful that he makes potion making dangerous. I'm sorry to say I haven't made things easy for him at school. I was wrong about him though and now I see why he was put in Gryffindor. He is loyal to a fault and brave. He followed Potter last year to the ministry of magic and helped fight death eaters and now he stood up to Malfoy the boy who has tormented him since 1st year and didn't back down."

"My mother told me how much he fears you, is it true that when asked what his greatest fear was during a lesson on boggarts he said it was you?" Frank asked.

"Yes and to conquer his fear Lupin told him to imagine me wearing your mother's clothes and vulture hat." Snape said as Frank laughed at the thought. "Thanks to his fear I was the butt of every joke for at least a month." Snape also smiled at the memory. He wouldn't admit it to anyone but it felt good to know he could still cause fear in people even when he was no longer a death eater.

Chapter 24: Threats and Gifts

It was Christmas Eve and they were all gathered in the dining room discussing their plans for tomorrow. Winky and Dobby were preparing the food and they were all going to open presents together in the morning in the drawing room. Harry had the largest tree in the drawing room and they could all spread out around the room.

They were all laughing at Fred and Georges jokes when there was a knock at the door. Dobby came back in followed by Hagrid and Madame Maxime. "Madame Maxime!" both Fleur and Gabrielle said surprised jumping to their feet. At school they stood until she sat and that habit was ingrained in both of them.

"Oh moi belles, you are here where it is safe. I am so glad that you are safe." Maxime said smiling as she handed her oversized coat to Winky and Hagrid handed his to Dobby. "I must speak with you Dumbly-dorr, it is important." She said as the two headed out of the room to speak.

"Happy Christmas Hagrid," Harry said smiling at his friend who he hadn't expected to see over the holidays.

"Good to see you everyone," He said as he sat down on a bench against the wall since he was too large for the spindly chairs in the dining room. "Having a holiday?"

"Yes, it is great having so many friends here with us," Harry said smiling as he looked around the table at everyone. The Lovegoods had been invited to join them as well so now the group numbered 25 and would grow to 27 if Hagrid and Madame Maxime stayed.

"Good to see you again there Frank, Alice." Hagrid said smiling at his old friends.

"It's good to see you too Hagrid, it's been a long time." Frank said. "Neville tells me that you're a professor of care of magical creatures now. Congratulations."

"Thank you; it's always been my dream. Neville is a very good student in my classes." Hagrid told them watching their faces fill with pride for their son.

"I need to speak with the Order members." Dumbledore said walking back into the room followed by Madame Maxime. "Mrs. Longbottom will you please accompany Miss Lovegood, Neville and Mr. Malfoy to the living room for a few moments."

Neville, his gran, Draco and Luna all left as the rest of the order turned to Dumbledore expectantly and wondering why Fleur and Gabrielle were allowed to stay. "I have more bad news I'm afraid. There was an attack on a village outside of Orleans, France where you two normally reside Miss Delacour." Fleur gasped and both she and Gabrielle grabbed on to Bill for support. "They were looking for you Gabrielle."

"It is no longer safe for either of you in France." Madame Maxime told them. "The death eaters will no stop until they kill both of you for your parents' refusal of the dark mark."

"What do we need to do?" Fleur said trying to hide her fear.

"You will need a secret keeper and a safe place to live." Dumbledore told them.

Harry stood up after receiving a nod from Remus. "You are both welcome to stay here as long as you need. We have plenty of room and it is quite safe."

"Thank you Harry," Dumbledore said. "If you decide to stay here it is only fitting that I become your secret keeper as I am the secret keeper for the Order and for this house."

"What about Gabrielle and her schooling?" Fleur asked looking to here sister.

"It is not safe to return to Beauxbatons. I will miss you Gabrielle but it is safer if you stayed and went to Hogwarts. Dumbley-dorr will be able to protect you more than I am able to." Madame Maxime told the frightened little girl who ran and hugged her headmistress.

"I will miss you too Madame Maxime. I like England and will have friends at Hogwarts to keep me safe as well." Gabrielle said smiling at Harry.

"We will do whatever we can to protect her Madame Maxime," Ron said smiling at Bill who he knew was in love with Fleur and worried about Gabrielle.

"Don't worry Olympe, Harry and his friends will take care of her." Hagrid said placing his hand on her shoulder.

The adults talked for a while longer after dinner. Harry was sitting on a couch in the living room between Gabrielle and Ginny. Bill was standing holding Fleur in his arms. She looked like she was on the verge of tears. "I think you will like Hogwarts," Harry said to Gabrielle trying to ease the tension in the room. "I know it will take a while to get used to but it's not that bad. Your sister spent almost an entire year there for the Tri-Wizard tournament."

"I liked the castle when I was there. It was a lot bigger than Beauxbatons. I was hoping I could go there instead of Beauxbatons but my mother wouldn't hear of it. I don't get along with the others in my year so it will be a good change to get away from them. They are a bunch of whining idiots." She told Harry getting a disapproving look from Fleur and a snigger from Malfoy.

"That is not a very nice thing to say Gabrielle," Fleur scolded.

"It's true and you know it. They prance around thinking that nothing can hurt them. Besides they don't like the pranks I pull on them anyway. Madame Maxime is the only one there who understands me." Gabrielle said.

"You sound like a Slytherin," Draco said admiration evident in his voice.

"She will probably end up in Ravenclaw," Fleur said. "She is too smart to be put in Hufflepuff, not brave enough for Gryffindor, and hopefully she is not power hungry enough to be in Slytherin."

"I don't care which house I get put into. I will not fit into any of their little molds on how they determine which house I am best in. I shouldn't even be in second year. I cannot believe mother held me back because I was too little." Gabrielle huffed.

"What do you mean held you back?" Hermoine asked curiously.

"I am 14 years old and only in 2nd year because when I was 11 I only looked 8 or 9 and my mother said I was too tiny to start school. She waited until last year to start me. I was a 13 year old first year!" Gabrielle said clearly agitated. "No one at my school believes me when I try and tell them that I am almost 15!"

"I'm surprised the school let your parents hold you back." Hermoine said.

"My father was the assistant minister of France. My parents were highly respected and their judgment was not questioned." Fleur told them. "They were good friends with Madame Maxime. They were killed last year by death eaters because they would not join the Dark Lord. The authorities would not believe that the Dark Lord was responsible for their deaths. It was said to be done by individuals wanting to infiltrate the French Ministry, but I was there and saw the dark mark above our house."

"We had gone out shopping just Fleur and I since she was leaving to move here the next week. When we got back our house was destroyed and the dark mark was hanging over our house. I remember seeing it at the Quidditch World Cup and there it was above our house. We knew our parents were dead and we hurried to Madame Maxime before the death eaters could find us as well." Gabrielle said.

"Were their names Jean-Paul and Marie?" Draco asked looking paler than normal. "It was a yellow house with white columns?"

"How did you know?" Fleur asked frightened.

Draco put his head in his hands. "My father took me with him that day to show me the glory of being a death eater. I remember thinking how pretty the house looked with its gingham checked curtains blowing in the breeze. My father told them they must choose sides. They could join the forces of the dark lord or die. Your mother spoke forcefully in French telling my father what a horrible man he was and how she would rather die than to join. She spit in his face." Draco smiled at the memory of the feisty Veela woman. "My father told her that her Veela blood was wasted upon such ideals. Your father stood defiantly and said he would not betray his country for some half blooded mad man."

"My father was very proud to be a pureblood," Gabrielle said quietly. "He told us he would be proud the day we married a pureblooded wizard." Fleur was crying into Bill who was holding her up for support.

"I'm sorry he killed your parents. That was the day I realized I hated my father and didn't want to follow in his footsteps. I had been taught that purebloods were supposed to be treated with honor and respect, but they killed him without any second thoughts. The worst part was when my father picked up a photo of your family and told your mother he would enjoy killing her children for their betrayal." Draco continued. "She looked straight at my father and told him she would rather her girls die than use their powers to seduce others to follow a mad man. I never saw the photo and just assumed that the death eaters had carried out their orders. Four of them went off in search of you two."

"Thank you for telling us how they died. I am glad they stood up for their beliefs." Fleur said shakily to Draco.

"Your father is a Death Eater huh? Is that why you are here?" Gabrielle asked them. They had not told her about Draco or why he was staying.

"Yes, he is in Azkaban but still believes me to be on his side. My mother believes me to be staying at school over holidays. If I had gone home she would have taken me to get my dark mark and I would be exposed. I would rather die than take that mark." Draco said to the beautiful little girl.

Madame Maxime and Hagrid agreed to stay for Christmas. Harry went into the drawing room to find Remus who had gone to pick up Ginny's present earlier in the evening. He and Tonks were snuggling on a couch in the corner. Remus followed Harry into his room and shut the door.

"There's something I wanted to talk to you about Harry," Remus said as they sat down on the bed. "I want to ask Tonks to marry me." Remus blushed and waited for his son's reaction.

Harry grinned at him. "I told you she was a nice girl right after I told you that you needed to find me a mum." Harry joked with his adoptive father. "I think it's a bloody brilliant idea. When are you going to ask her and do you have a ring picked out?"

"I was hoping to ask her tomorrow. I looked for rings in Diagon Alley and in Hogsmead but I haven't found anything that is special enough for her." Remus said sadly. "I wanted to have a ring to ask her with, but at least this way if she says no, I won't have to return the ring."

Harry could tell he was very nervous about asking her. "Don't worry dad, she'll say yes. I've seen the way you two look at each other. Besides, she told me that she loves you." Harry smiled at the relieved look on Remus' face. "I have an idea where we might find a ring worthy of my new mum, lets go look in the vault once everyone's asleep."

They waited rather impatiently for everyone to go to sleep and slipped downstairs into the vault. They looked through some of the old wardrobes at the clothing before heading over to the large jewelry case. Harry opened the box and they searched through the jewels. "If we don't find one we can always have one made especially for her," Harry told him smiling and pointing at the large pile of loose stones.

"I don't want to wait any longer. Dumbledore said we had to keep our relationship a secret until we decided to make it official. This way we won't have to hide anymore. Plus she thinks I'm too shy to ask her yet, so she'll be totally surprised.

"Will everyone still call her Tonks once you're married?" Harry asked curiously. "I know she hates her first name, what will happen when her last name changes to Lupin. Can I call her loopy?" Harry asked chuckling as Remus playfully slapped his shoulder.

"I don't care if she decides to keep her last name as long as she's my wife." Remus said in such a romantic way it made Harry laugh.

"My dad and Sirius would beat you up for talking that sappy!" Harry laughed. They had found about a dozen rings that were not good enough for Remus. 6 were diamonds, 2 emeralds, 2 rubies, 1 sapphire and 1 pearl. Harry pulled open another small drawer and found a black velvet bag. He opened it up and gasped. There were three beautiful rings inside. One was a large flawless emerald surrounded by diamonds and rubies set in a gold setting. As soon as Harry saw it he knew the ring was perfect for Ginny. He smiled and ran his hand over it imagining proposing to her with such a magnificent ring. There was also a ring that was a large diamond cut in the shape of a heart, it was set in silver and had other small diamonds set into the band. Harry was surprised how it looked so much like a muggle engagement ring. The third ring was the ring he knew they had been looking for. It was a moonstone. Moonstones were very rare. It was surrounded by the same bright pink stones as in the necklace he had given Tonks for the inauguration. Harry couldn't think of a more appropriate stone for a wedding ring for Remus' bride than a moonstone.

"I found it," Harry whispered to Remus who was still looking through the other jewelry. "This is the ring you've been looking for." He said handing the ring to his dad who got tears in his eyes.

"It's a moonstone surrounded by pink sapphires. This is amazing. Are you sure you don't want to keep this to give to Ginny?" Remus asked surprised Harry would part with such a treasure.

"I found the perfect ring for Ginny and that's not it," Harry said holding out the emerald ring to Remus who nodded and smiled. He could see how perfect the other ring was for Ginny as well.

"Where were they hiding?" Remus asked. Harry pointed out the small almost hidden drawer and the velvet bag they were it. "It's like they were made especially for you. I wonder why there were three such magnificent rings."

Harry shut the little drawer and smiled at Remus. "I don't know, it is kind of strange that two rings that are exactly what I imagined Tonks and Ginny liking just miraculously showed up. I wonder if Bill knows anything about them. I don't remember them being on his inventory sheet. I did have a few moonstones that were not set, but I don't remember any rings."

"Do you think Bill and Fleur will get married?" Remus asked still feeling a romantic high from finding the perfect ring to propose with.

"I can tell he loves her. Ginny said that he has been shy of asking her out because she is part Veela and was afraid he was only attracted to her for that reason. Can you imagine what their children would look like? I've never heard of a part Veela with red hair!" Harry laughed.

"I wonder what kind of ring he would buy for her." Remus asked thoughtfully.

"I bet it would be spectacular. She likes expensive and nice things so he would have to be very choosy what he got. He knows what to look for though. He has a very good idea what things are worth." Harry opened the drawer to put the other two rings away and was surprised to see another velvet bag inside. "What is going on?" He asked taking the bag from the drawer and opening it slowly. Inside was the most magnificent ring either one of them had ever seen. It looked to be made of light it was so luminescent. There were multiple diamonds and the setting looked to be made of platinum. Harry wouldn't have been surprised if the band was actually made of mithril, the most expensive metal on earth.

"It's like the drawer knew what we were envisioning for a ring for Fleur and it created one!" Remus exclaimed. "Maybe that was what happened when you opened it the first time. It's taking your stock of unset stones and making whatever it is you envision. Kind of like a drawer version of the room of requirement." He said marveling at the implication.

Harry placed the empty velvet bag back into the drawer and shut it. He thought how he needed a gift for Madame Maxime, Fleur and Gabrielle for Christmas. He opened the drawer again and the bag was full. He pulled out a very large opal broach that could only ever fit Madame Maxime. A pair of sapphire earrings that matched Fleur's eyes perfectly and a delicate silver chain with a star pendant that he thought would look lovely on Gabrielle.

"I believe you are correct with how it works. I was thinking that I needed gifts for the French girls for Christmas and out popped the perfect presents." Harry said.

"So who is the heart shaped ring for then" Remus asked. "The first time you opened it there was the perfect ring for Ginny and Tonks and the heart shaped one. Who is that for then?"

Harry thought for a second and then smiled big. "Three rings for my three favorite girls. I was wondering what kind of ring Ginny and Hermoine would want when they got married. That's why it looks so much like a muggle ring. Hermoine is a muggle and would want something that resembled a muggle engagement ring." Harry laughed at what Ron would think if he told him he had found the perfect wedding ring for Hermoine.

"I wonder if you put something in the drawer if it recycles it or changes it?" Remus wondered. They placed an ugly and chunky ring and matching necklace into the drawer and shut it. "What should we have it turn into?" Remus asked.

"How about something Neville can give his mother for Christmas? He was telling me how he didn't think his present for her was special enough. I also need something for Luna; do you think this thing can make something crazy enough for her?" Harry laughed.

They opened the drawer again and found a gold locket. They opened the locket and an inscription read: "To my mother who brings me hope and makes me stronger, Neville." There was room for a photo as well. Harry couldn't wait to give it to Neville; he knew how amazing it was for Neville to have his mum back in his life. There was also a set of weird looking earrings in the bag. They looked like silver spider's webs with a silver feather hanging from the bottom and a blue stone in the middle of the web. Harry shrugged and held them up for Remus.

"Those are dream catchers. The Native Americans believe they catch the bad dreams in their net and only let the good dreams through. The outside edge is usually made out of wood and the web made of string with feathers hanging below. I don't remember what the stone or the feathers are supposed to represent." Remus told him.

"They are appropriate for Luna then since she always seems to be off in some dream world of her own." Harry said as he pocketed all the Christmas gifts and safely put Ginny's and Hermione's rings in an empty drawer. "We'll keep this magic drawer a secret. Wouldn't want to give away the secret of how we find the perfect gifts." Harry chuckled as they headed back upstairs.

Harry knocked on Neville's door to give him the locket. Neville opened it sleepily. "I found this locket yesterday when I was going through some things in my safe." Harry told him. "I had Remus get it engraved when he went out to pick up Ginny's present tonight. I knew you wanted something special for your mother."

Neville took the locket staring wide eyed at Harry before opening it and seeing the message. "How did you know to have that engraved on it?" Neville asked him. "It's what I used to always tell her when I visited her at the hospital. I can't pay you for this right now, but just tell me how much and I'll pay you back."

"Neville, I inherited all of Sirius' money. I have more than I could ever spend. I knew you wanted the perfect gift for your mum and when I saw this it was like it was made for her. Please just take it. You are my friend; let me do this for you." Harry said.

"You have done so much already. You saved my family. This is the prefect gift for her Harry. Thanks." Neville said as Harry went to his own room. Harry couldn't wait for the morning when he could give everyone their presents.

Chapter 25: A Happy Christmas

Harry woke up to Ginny kissing him. "Happy Christmas Harry," She said as she kissed him again. "It's time for presents, so hurry up!" She grinned and ran out of the room. He pulled on green velvet robes he had found in the vault that were perfect for Christmas and hurried to the drawing room. He smiled at everyone drinking their tea or coffee and wishing each other good tidings.

"Merry Christmas everyone," He said realizing he was the last to arrive. He got hugs from the girls and they all sat down to open presents.

"You get to hand out the gifts since you are the master of the house," Snape told Harry smirking. "So be quick about it so I can get my breakfast."

"Don't listen to him Harry, he's always such a Scrooge." Professor Sprout said laughing and drinking her coffee.

"Dobby, Winky!" Harry called out making sure his little friends didn't miss the festivities. They appeared within seconds. Dobby was decked out in holiday baubles. "Come on and join us. You have presents to open too." Harry smiled at the surprised look on Winky's face as she obediently followed Dobby over next to the tree and sat down.

They spent the entire morning opening gifts. Tonks spent five minutes laughing when she opened her present from Draco. She held up the shirt that read: "I'm not who you think I am" and the room burst into laughter. Fred and George gave everyone joke shop products, no surprise there. Mrs. Weasley cried each time she opened a gift but not nearly as hard as when she opened Harry's gift to her. He had a watch made for her like her clock at home so she could always tell where her family was. He added "Mystery" for Order work and "Visiting Friends" for when they were here at Headquarters. He even added his own and Hermione's names to hands so she could keep tabs on them as well.

"You can add more hands when your sons get married as well," Harry told her as soon as she released him from a bone crunching hug. She didn't even seem to mind when Mr. Weasley opened his gift of a muggle TV and DVD player complete with DVDs Harry though he would enjoy watching. He had it charmed to work in the magical world.

Hermoine had bought Dobby and Winky each a pair of shoes to match the clothes that Harry got them. Winky cried with happiness at the 2 new dresses Harry got her and Dobby jumped up and down when he saw his gift of a suit. "My other gift to you is that I want you each to have your own rooms. I found a wing of rooms off of the kitchen pantry that I want you each to pick one and fix it up however you like. It will be your own space." Harry told them making Winky bawl again.

"Harry Potter is too good to Winky. Winky does not deserve so much sir." She said. Harry walked over and hugged her to get her to stop crying.

"You keep this house together and looking beautiful. This is the least I can do. Besides you and Dobby are my friends. In fact I'd like to consider you part of my family if that is ok with you." Harry asked them both.

"We is already thinking of you as family Harry." Dobby said as they went back to opening the rest of the gifts.

To lighten the mood, which had become way too intense from Mrs. Weasley's and Winky's crying, Harry gave Draco his first gift. Draco opened the box to find the white stuffed ferret with the "I Love Harry Potter" T-shirt and busted up laughing. The teachers and students laughed very loudly as Draco told them about the display they had found in the clothing store and how the sales witch had said they were a best selling item.

"I still can't believe that imposter turned me into a ferret!" Draco said which caused another rumble of laughter. The twins were beside themselves with mirth. "Here Red, you might as well open this one now while they are all still laughing." Draco said handing her the wrapped teddy bear.

Ginny chuckled as she pulled the purple teddy bear with the same t-shirt out of the wrapping. "Thanks Draco, I actually like mine." She said still laughing at the ferret joke. Snape looked on with interest at how Draco could buy Ginny a gift about Harry and not feel jealous. He was impressed with how much character the boy was showing in the situation.

Tonks played with her mirror that Harry got her by morphing her head over and over to get a different reflection to show. Gabrielle squealed and actually hugged Harry when she opened the necklace. "I saw a necklace like this in France two years ago and begged my father to buy it for me but he wouldn't. Thank you so much." She told as Draco helped her put the pendant on. He had given her a wizards chess set. He and Ron had been trying to teach her to play since she arrived.

"Bill, I don't have an actual present for you." Harry said walking over to the eldest Weasley boy. "But I had a talk with the head goblin at Gringotts and as of today you are personally in charge of my accounts at Gringotts. I have informed them that you are my accountant and the only person I want dealing with my accounts."

Bill looked at Harry like he was joking. "Seriously?" He asked and grinned as Harry nodded. "Thank you, that is way better than any physical present!" He said shaking Harry's hand. "They will have to take me seriously now."

Most of the presents were done. Dumbledore had loved his socks and sweets from Harry who told him he should be able to look into the mirror and only see himself now. He gave books to all the professors, Charlie, Luna's father, The Longbottoms, and of course Hermoine. He also gave her a book bag that was charmed not to split or feel heavy no matter how many books it was carrying. He gave Ron a full set of Chudley Cannons robes and a book on famous keepers.

Harry walked over to Snape. "I found this in a box of Sirius' things and though you would want to have it." He told him handing him the gift.

Severus opened the gift and looked to Harry in wonderment. Inside was a photo of him and Lily from their school days that had been framed. "Thank you Harry, you know how much this means to me." He had to use all his willpower to keep his voice free of emotion and his eyes dry.

"Sirius had it in a box labeled 'Lily's things' inside was a photo album of her and her friends. He must never have looked through it otherwise I'd guess the photo would have been destroyed." Harry told his professor. When he had found the box he realized that his mother and Snape had been friend even with the animosity between him and his father.

Ginny gave Harry a watch that had the cycles of the moon on it so he could always know when the full moon was. Remus smiled at the thoughtful gesture. She whispered that the watch had other feature too that she would show him later. He grinned and gave her her gift. It was the last gift to be opened and everyone was very curious what the famous Harry Potter would buy for the girl he loved.

Ginny carefully pulled the bracelet out of the box and smiled at all the charms. "Is this a real charm bracelet or just pretty figures?" She asked already knowing that if it came from Harry it was a real charm bracelet.

"It's real. The heart charm lets you know how others feel toward you. The wand is a magic boosting charm, the star allows you to see the constellations without a telescope, the rose will always smell of roses, the kitten charm will let you always know where Lightning is, the snitch increases your reflexes, the broomstick has an anti-falling charm, the quaffle has a increased speed charm and the Hogwarts charm has a powerful protection charm on it." Harry said watching her wonderment grow with every charm he explained.

"This must have cost a fortune Harry!" She exclaimed as he placed the bracelet around her slender wrist. "Thank you."

"Nothing is too good for you Gin," Harry said kissing her forehead before turning to the rest of the group. "That seems to be all the presents. But I think we're missing one don't you dad?" He said winking at Remus who started to look nervous. "I think your present to Tonks is missing."

Everyone turned to watch as Remus got off the couch, pulled a small box from his pocket and kneeled in front of Tonks. "You are the most amazing woman I have ever known and I love you with all of my heart. Will you do me the great honor of becoming my wife?" He asked her opening the box and showing her the spectacular ring. Everyone was deathly quiet and holding their breath waiting for her answer.

Tonks looked at his eyes that were so full of love. She had been shocked that he had enough courage to ask her in front of so many people. She grinned as tears fell down her cheeks. "Yes, I love you completely and would be honored to marry you." She said as everyone cheered as they kissed. "This is the most amazing ring I have ever seen, how did you find something so perfect?" She asked as they all made their way downstairs for brunch.

"That's mine and Harry's secret. When we saw this ring we knew it was made for you to wear. A moonstone for the wife of a werewolf is quite fitting don't you think. And it had sapphires in your favorite color." He said as they were in their own little world at the end of the table.

"I would like to propose a toast," Harry said standing and holding up his pumpkin juice. "To my new father and his soon to be bride, may your life be full of love and blessed with joy." Everyone chorused "Here Here" before he continued. "And to all my friends, thank you for making this Christmas holiday so special by being here with us. Let this be a start of tradition so this house will never feel lonely on such a happy day." They all clinked glasses and smiled at Harry before tucking into the food.

They all laughed and ate and had a good time. Harry, Ron, Draco, Neville, Hermoine, Ginny, Luna and Gabrielle went up to Ron and Harry's old room to go through their presents and give the adults time to talk about boring stuff.

"This has been the best Christmas I've ever had," Draco told them. "Holiday's at my house are never fun. I get a lot of gifts but never any affection. Thank you for letting me come here Harry."

"No problem Draco, you are welcome anytime." Harry said, "So what did your mother send you for Christmas?"

"New green robes, a new pair of dragon hide boots, a pocket watch with the Malfoy crest engraved on it, a bunch of books and sweets, a sack of galleons, oh and a death eater uniform complete with ugly white mask." He said showing them the uniform with disgust. "She sent a letter saying how she understood why I was reluctant to come home. She thinks it's because my father is in prison and holidays would be too hard to face without him. As if!" Draco snorted. "Then she writes how she had told the Dark Lord I will be ready to join this summer and that he is pleased. She writes that my father is fine and believes he will be out of Azkaban in time to see me take my loyalty oath."

"We should let Dumbledore know that your father is planning on escaping and come up with a plan to keep you safe this summer." Ginny told him.

"Yeah, you can for sure come here this summer instead of going home. Of course if you do that they will know for sure that you have switched sides." Harry told him sadly. "There will be no turning back at that point."

"I will need to go home and collect all my things. I am sure I can tell my mother I am off to visit Crabbe and Goyle to brag about my membership. She won't suspect anything as long as we keep up appearances at school when we get back." Draco said.

"What happens if they find out?" Gabrielle asked curiously.

"They will want me dead. I would like to get my things from my house before they find out. I am accustomed to a wealthy lifestyle and don't want to run with nothing if I don't have to." He told her.

"I understand," Gabrielle said. "It was a shock loosing our home and having to live with other people. I always got whatever I wanted, but when my parents died we had to conserve. Fleur transferred all of our gold here to Gringotts except what I would need to finish school."

"That was very nice of you to give Snape that photo," Hermoine told Harry.

"He looked like he was trying not to cry," Ginny said with a smile.

"I'm surprised he never moved on after all these years," Draco said. "He must have really loved her."

"I don't think he ever tried to move on," Harry said. "He put all his effort and time into the Order and teaching after she died and didn't allow himself to have a social life."

"That was why he acted like such a greasy git all the time." Ron added

Gabrielle leaned close to Draco's ear and whispered, "You will move on though. You will never get over your love for her but I feel that you will move on and love again." She winked at him and sat back up.

Draco stared at the little part Veela sitting next to him and wondered how she knew he loved Ginny. He knew Harry and figured it out, but how did she?

Neville went off to spend some time with his parents before the dinner feast. So did Luna, her father and her have some tradition where they read a book together every Christmas. Fred, George, Charlie, Bill and Fleur were in the drawing room when they went in to join them. The boys were laughing evilly, obviously plotting something.

"What are you up to and how much trouble are we going to get into?" Ginny asked as she sat down on Charlie's lap.

"We are just plotting ways to get even with Percy." George said off handedly. Harry was surprised they were even mentioning Percy. There was an unspoken rule around the Weasleys that was never mention Percy. He had tried to come back groveling when Arthur had been named minister, but had shown that he was still a power hungry git. He had told Mrs. Weasley that he shouldn't be blamed for his actions and that he was only being faithful to the minister of magic. When she had asked him if he ever would have spoken to her again if his father hadn't been named minister if magic, he was dumb enough to tell her no. He told her that she had shown her disloyalty to the ministry and he was surprised the public had elected his father.

Needless to say he was not welcomed back into the folds of the family and was sent to work at Arthur's old department of misuse of muggle artifacts. He hadn't been too pleased with his position and had interrupted a meeting Arthur was having with the Aurors to voice his complaints to his 'father' about how he deserved more respect. Arthur had told him it was the job that was on the fast track to being minister since that was the job he had been doing as was also the only opening since his position as assistant to Fudge no longer existed.

"We were thinking of sending him a set of new robes that continues to shirk throughout the day until it's so tight you have to cut it off. And we want to bewitch some muggle things and send them to him to 'fix' and they will all have different spells they will perform on him." Fred said laughing loudly.

"I am still partial to a charm that will flip his office upside down so he cannot reach any of his things," Bill said chuckling.

"And I like the one that will make him bark like a dog instead of being able to talk." Charlie added.

"I know of one that will make his hair disappear for a month. He will see his hair when he looks in the mirror but everyone else will think he is bald." Fleur said laughing. Bill looked at her with a look of pure love. She was helping them plot revenge, she was a definite keeper.

Draco chuckled at the Weasley's plotting revenge. He was happy they had never tried any of those pranks on him. "You get even by embarrassing the person huh?" Draco asked. "I was always taught that pain was the best revenge."

"To Percy who is power hungry and wants everyone to respect him this is pain. He could deal with physical pain. This is psychological pain and lasts much longer." Ginny told him with an evil grin identical to her brothers.

"Besides, this is the Weasley way." Ron said. "He will know who did it and realize that we won't stand for his treatment of our mother."

"I bet you Tonks will help you get them to him. She can say she found them while on some sort of auror mission. He won't have time to be suspicious before it's too late." Harry added.

They spent the rest of the evening until dinner setting up the prank on Percy. Harry had gotten Tonks alone and she agreed to help as long as they didn't tell Molly her involvement. Tonks was scared of Mrs. Weasley's temper.

They went in for dinner to see a feast rivaling those of Hogwarts on the table as well as plies of crackers. Dumbledore pulled a cracker to find a green bowler hat exactly like the kind Fudge always wore and handed it to Arthur who chuckled and put it on. They all had a fun time pulling crackers and eating the meal. Winky and Dobby joined them for dinner as well. Dobby had never opened a cracker before and was so excited he toppled off his chair. To everyone's surprise Draco was the first one to get up to help the excited elf.

"Thank you Draco sir," Dobby squeaked as Draco smiled and sat back down between Ginny and Gabrielle.

Draco opened a cracker and snorted when a badge fell out that read "I love Gryffindor" on it. The table roared with laughter and even Snape insisted that Draco wear it for the evening. Harry got the badge that read "Not all Slytherins are Bad" and laughed as he put it on. Hermoine got one that read "Books are for Smart People" and the table laughed again as she blushed and pinned on the badge. The twins each got a badge; one said "Gred" and the other "Forge" and laughed at how accurate it was. Bill told them that they might finally get called by the right name now.

"Who made all the crackers?" Ron asked. "They are all so appropriate I wondered who did all of them."

Harry looked at Dumbledore whose eyes were twinkling madly. "Winky not know sir, Winky thought you did it since they were here already." Winky said looking at Harry.

"I think one of our illustrious house guests is the one responsible." Harry laughed. "I'll know for sure once you open the one in front of you Severus."

Snape opened his and a "Harry Potter is My Hero" badge came out with little snakes that chased themselves around the edge of the badge. Snape snorted and looked at Dumbledore with a smirk as he put on his badge. They all either had hats or badges that were appropriately humorous and Harry knew the headmaster was responsible.

The rest of the crackers were normal magical crackers with little trinkets or confetti. They talked well into the night listening to the adults reminisce about their time at Hogwarts. It was interesting to hear stories about Flitwick or McGonagall getting into mischief when they were at school.

Chapter 26: The New Girl

The holiday was slowly drawing to a close and the teens were becoming restless to get back and see their other friends and Hermione was anxious to get back to her school work. Professor Snape turned back into his nasty self the week before and threatened to take off house points if she didn't stop pestering everyone about studding. Everyone else was startled as well to see him upset at her for too much studying.

"So you nervous about starting at Hogwarts?" Draco asked Gabrielle as they tried to ignore another row between Ron and Hermione over a subject nobody new.

"I am curious more than nervous. I won't miss the creatons at Beauxbatons but I am wondering how well I will be received at Hogwarts. I don't fancy myself as a Gryffindor; they are too proud and loyal for my tastes. Hermione lent me her book called Hogwarts a History and from the description of the houses in there I would rather die than be put in Hufflepuff." Gabrielle told him.

"I agree with you there. If they had put me in Hufflepuff I would have packed my bags and transferred to Durmstrang. My evil git of a father had wanted to send me there since it was at the time run by a death eater. If you don't get into Slytherin, the only other house to be in is Ravenclaw." Draco said in his most stuck up voice.

"I like Harry and everyone else, but I just can't see myself fitting in Gryffindor. I'm sure Bill wants me to be in his old house and Fleur will be upset though." Gabrielle told him. "Do you think they will still talk to me if I got put in another house?"

"Potter and Granger will for sure, they are only rude to those people who are rude to them, like I am." Draco laughed and told her how they had been rivals and enemies since their first year and how they still had to keep up pretenses.

"How horrible for you not to have friends in your house," Gabrielle told him.

"It could be worse. My father could know that I had switched sides and could have all the death eaters hunting me down." Draco said shivering at the thought. "That's why I have to be careful to keep the other Slytherins still believing that I am their noble leader."

Gabrielle giggled, "Ginny told me that the girls call you the Prince of Slytherin."

"And we call Harry Saint Potter. I'm only referred to as royalty, he gets to be godly." Draco huffed. "I call Harry and Ron by Potty and the Weasel sometimes to get a rise out of them. I have stopped calling Granger a mudblood though unless I really need to put on a good impression for the Slytherins."

Harry went up to Professor Dumbledore a few days before they were going back to school. "I was wondering about the dueling tournament sir," Harry told him.

"Yes, I was wondering about it as well. What were you thinking Harry?" The old headmaster asked with his ever present twinkle in his eyes.

"I don't think I should participate and give away my powers to all the Slytherins and other would be death eaters. I need to come up with some way to get disqualified or in trouble enough that I can't participate." Harry told him seriously.

"Why don't you just not enter the tournament Potter?" Snape asked him like it was the most obvious answer.

"The students would never believe that Mr. Potter decided not to enter the tournament on his own will. Gryffindors would never walk away without at least having a go at it. Besides he was the Tri-Wizard champion, there would be much talk about him choosing not to participate." McGonagall added. The professors had all been sitting in the living room chatting.

"I'll need to get in trouble or fake injury. It's the only way to avoid suspicion." Harry told them. "Any ideas on how to do that?"

"What would it take to get him suspended from participating?" Tonks asked the heads of houses. They were in charge of punishments and would know how bad it would have to be to ban Harry.

"Being caught out of bed after hours no longer will do it since he is a prefect. We would only suspend his prefect privileges. It would have to be attacking another student or breaking many many many school rules." McGonagall said.

"With Potter's record fighting with another student would do it. Preferably someone from another house in front of the student body would be enough. Assuming the other student didn't actively participate in the fight." Snape told them all. Harry silently agreed that would be the most effective and convincing way to get suspended.

"It would have to be a pretty convincing fight. What would it take to get Harry so upset that he would strike out at someone like that?" Tonks asked.

"Me," Draco said walking into the room and overhearing the conversation. "He was banned from Quidditch last year after hitting me when I insulted Mrs. Weasley."

"That would also keep the Slytherins from wondering about Mr. Malfoy's loyalties. But what would have to happen to trigger such and outburst?" Dumbledore asked them all.

"If Harry found out about Draco and Ginny being friends," Remus told them shrugging.

"Although that would make a perfect reason for a staged fight, we do not want to expose Mr. Malfoy's friendship with her unless absolutely necessary." Dumbledore said.

"Draco and I will try and work something out. Just remember to remove me from the tournament if an opportunity presents itself and we get into a fight." Harry told them. "I don't want to have it happen and then just get stuck with detention or something."

"Besides, if I'm going to stand there and let him beat on me, he better get a good punishment." Draco said smirking.

Harry went to speak with Bill the day before they left for school. Dumbledore had become Fleur and Gabrielle's secret keeper the night before. Bill, Fleur, The Weasleys, The Longbottoms, Remus and Tonks were all sitting in the kitchen.

"I wanted to talk to you all about the living situation before I headed back to school." Harry started smiling at Remus who he had discussed this all with last night. "Fleur I want you to feel welcome here as long as you need the protection this roof can provide. I know this puts a lot of strain on your and Bill's relationship."

"That's ok Harry. I would rather know she was safe and only see here every so often than risk her safety and see her everyday." Bill told him putting his arm around her.

"That is why I think you should stay here too." Harry said receiving a surprised look around the table. "That way you can be assured of Fleur's safety and she won't be lonely here without you. Besides, since I am employing you as my accountant, there is a reason for you to stay."

"I think it's a wonderful idea Harry," Mr. Weasley said smiling. "Besides, Bill's old enough he shouldn't be living at home anymore." He laughed and watched Bill blush.

"I also want you to know you are welcome to stay as long as you need," Harry told the Longbottoms. "There are a lot of people wanting to get to you after your miraculous recovery and you are safe here."

"Thank you Harry that is a very sweet offer." Alice said smiling at him.

"It'll give Dobby and Winky some company with Remus, Tonks and I at Hogwarts." Harry told them glad they were taking him up on his offer. "I kind of like thinking of this at the Potter Hotel." He said making them all laugh.

They were all packed and their trunks lying at the foot of the stairs ready to go back to school. Harry had restocked up on Butterbeer and sweets before heading back. They all shrunk their trunks and pocketed them before using floo powder to get to the headmaster's office. It was the only fireplace you could floo into at the school. Everything else was only for interschool communication.

They put their trunks away in their rooms and went back down to the great hall to see Gabrielle get sorted. She was standing at the front of the hall with her head held high looking both smug and proud, daring anyone to question what she was doing there.

"Is it just me or is she looking remarkably Slytherin at the moment?" Ginny asked Harry as they sat down at the table, careful to keep a seat open if she was put into their house.

"Welcome back everyone," Dumbledore said standing to get their attention. "I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. Before we get to our evening meal we have new student who needs to be sorted. She is a second year transfer from Beauxbatons, I expect you all to treat her with the same respect you treat the rest of your fellow students."

McGonagall stepped forward with the sorting hat and the stool. "Gabrielle Delacour." She said as Gabrielle sat gingerly on the stool. Harry noticed quite a few of the boys were ogling the little part-veela; her charms were obviously working well.

The sorting took a minute or so before the old hat finally shouted "Slytherin." Harry and his friends exchanged a few surprised glances before smiling at the pretty blond and she made her way to the Slytherin table that was cheering for her.

Draco smiled as he heard the hat yell Slytherin and told Pansy to move over so he could welcome the new girl. He waved Gabrielle over. "Hello my name is Draco Malfoy and I am 6th year prefect. I will be the one to show you to your dormitory and can arrange a tour of the school for you in the morning if you deem it necessary."

"Moi name eez Gabrielle Delacour," She said making sure to chop her English up and accentuate her French accent. She thought it was funny how they had to pretend to not know each other. "Moi sister was ere for zee Tri-Wizard Tournament"

"Your sister is Fleur Delacour?" Pansy asked clearly not pleased at the information that a part-veela was sitting next to Draco. She had been trying to get her hooks into Draco since first year.

"Oui," Gabrielle said giving Pansy a look of disgust that Draco thoroughly enjoyed. "And which professor eez our Head of House?" She asked Draco sweetly already enjoying the look of loathing on Pansy's face.

"That would be Professor Snape," Draco said pointing at the staff table. "He is the Potions Master."

"So you are a second year," Pansy asked smirking, "That makes you like 12 years old or something right?" She knew Draco would never go for someone 4 years younger than him.

"No, I am 14." Gabrielle said enjoying tormenting the pug-faced girl already. "And who are you?" She asked not trying to hide the contempt in her voice.

"My name is Pansy Parkenson and I am in 6th year with Draco." She said batting her eyelashes at Draco as she said his name.

"I'm surprised you made it into Slytherin since you are not a pureblood," Blaise Zabinni said in a rude voice.

"My Grandmuzzer was Veela. There ezz nothing wrong with a pureblood wizard marrying a Veela. I am more powerful than you." Gabrielle said holding her head high and glaring at any who dared to say she was not worth of her house.

"Yes Blaise, a match with a Veela is a highly sought after match. They are very powerful and when a wizard child is born with Veela blood they are more powerful than most pureblooded wizards. It is the same way with mating with a vampire." Draco told his house mates. "I for one am thrilled to have such a beautiful creature such as you in my house." Draco said laying his charms on thickly.

"Would you rather me be sitting with Harry Potter at the table over there?" Gabrielle asked the others with a smirk.

"How do you know who Potter is?" Draco asked feigning ignorance.

"He saved my life during the Tri-Wizard Tournament when my sister was not able to rescue me from the Mermaids." Gabrielle said watching comprehension dawn on their faces. They spent the rest of the meal filling her in on house rivalries and such.

"So what do we do now?" Ron asked glancing at Gabrielle. "Are we supposed to be nice to her still?"

"Ron!" Hermione scolded. "Of course we are supposed to be nice to her. She is the same girl that we knew before. We will remain her friend if she wants to."

They were leaving to head to the common room at the same time as Gabrielle, Draco and his followers. "Congratulations on making Slytherin," Harry said with a forced smile to her as they passed.

"Thank you Harry." She said and then deliberately turned to Ron and Ginny. "Hello Ron, Ginny." She said as she followed her new housemates down to the dungeon.

"Why would you speak to the Weasleys?" Pansy asked her as if she was insane.

"Their father is the Minister of Magic," Gabrielle said as if it were obvious. "They are also a pureblood family. My sister is dating their oldest brother Bill."

"She would date a Weasley?" Pansy asked disgusted.

"It is a good match. He is pureblood and the son of the most powerful man in the Ministry. Bill is quite powerful and has a high paying job at Gringotts." Gabrielle said. "It is not wise to get on the bad side of the minister of magic."

"Quite right," Draco said enjoying the glare Pansy shot at Gabrielle. "I in fact attended the inauguration of the new minister and pledged the support of the Malfoy household."

"You did what?" Pansy asked looking shocked at Draco.

"It is good to have friends in high places. As Gabrielle says, it would not bode well for my future in the ministry if I got on the wrong side of the minister of magic." Draco told his friends who all nodded their agreement.

Professor Snape was waiting for them at the entrance to the common room. "Welcome to Slytherin house Miss Delacour. I trust you will be a welcome addition." Snape said curtly. "Here is your class schedule." And he stalked off towards his office with his robes billowing dramatically behind him.

"Does he know how sexy he looks when he stalks away like that?" Gabrielle mused to her fellow students earning a snort from Draco and a "Eww" from Pansy and the others.

"Please tell me you didn't just refer to Professor Snape as sexy," Pansy said knowing for sure that the girl was crazy.

"What? I like dangerous men who don't care what others think of them. I think of it as a challenge." Gabrielle said as they showed her around the common room and Pansy showed her the girls' dorm.

When they were out of ear shot of Draco (or so they thought) Pansy spun around to glare daggers at the new girl. "Don't be getting any ideas about Draco. He and I will be together and you better not get in my way." Pansy threatened.

Gabrielle smiled evilly, "I don't like being threatened or told what to do. I will do as I please and you will have very little to say about it. If I wanted to go shag Draco Malfoy senseless this moment I could and there is nothing you could do to stop me. You may have been here before me but that does not make you better than me." The little Veela said with a smirk resembling Malfoy's. "Besides, Draco would never fall for an ugly pug faced cow like you. He has way too much self respect for that." Gabrielle turned and went into her dorm slamming the door shut in Pansy's face.

Draco rolled with silent laughter as he put away his extendable ears. He had been waiting years for someone to put Pansy in her place! He had always remained somewhat friendly with her in the fear that his father would insist he marry her upon graduation. Now with Gabrielle here he could voice his dislike of Pansy and offer an alternative for his affections to his parents.

Professor Snape had excellent hearing and silently amused himself with the notion that the young Veela thought he could appear sexy. The Slytherins were not going to know what to do with the fiery new student. She was definitely going to stir things up. If she was half the witch her sister was she would make for an excellent student as well.

The next day Draco took Gabrielle on a short tour of the castle pointing out the classrooms she would need. He had promised Snape and Madame Pomfrey that he would help brew more medical potions before classes resumed. When he arrived in the dungeons Ginny was already there and waiting for him. Professor Snape had their ingredients all laid out so they started immediately.

"So how does Gabrielle like being a Slytherin?" Ginny asked trying to get a conversation going. The time always went by faster when they talked.

"She will do very well in Slytherin. She has already told Pansy off twice and stuck up for herself to Zabinni. She amuses me to watch." Draco chuckled as he told Ginny the conversation he had overheard from the night before.

"I guess the hat knows what its doing then. We were hoping she was going to get into Gryffindor." Ginny told him. "But at least you have a friend you can trust in your house now."

"It will be nice to be able to be myself around someone other than you and the Golden Trio." Draco told her. "Besides if I show her a little bit of interest my mother might finally get off my case about that cow Parkinson."

They worked for the next few hours. Draco had just finished insulting Pansy again and Ginny was laughing when Pansy walked into the room to find Professor Snape. Unfortunately Ginny had been leaning on Draco for support from her laughing fit. She straightened up and tried her best not to laugh.

"What are you doing in here alone with Weasley?" Pansy asked with a look of disgust at Ginny who couldn't hold her laughter in any longer and started laughing loudly causing Draco's calm demeanor to crack as his laughter fought to get loose.

"We are working on a special project for Madame Pomfrey that Professor Snape recommended us for. You do realize that I do not have to explain my action to you, do you not." Draco sneered.

Pansy was still trying to think of a good retort when Professor Snape entered the room again. "Miss Parkinson, I trust you are not disturbing my two best students while they are working on an important project." He said to her.

"I was looking for you professor," Pansy added in a falsely sweet tone that fooled no one. "I wanted to speak with you about the new girl. She threatened me last night and I wanted to report that to you so you would watch her carefully. I don't feel she is a good asset to our house."

Draco was fuming from his seat and would have most likely lunged at Pansy if Ginny hadn't placed a calming hand on his arm. When he had regained control of himself he spoke to Pansy and Snape. "I am afraid that Parkinson here does not know what she is referring to Professor. The only private conversation between her and Miss Delacour was when Parkinson told Gabrielle to stay away from me."

"What was Miss Delacour's reaction to that comment?" Snape asked genuinely interested in the fiery young Veela.

"She called Pansy an ugly pug faced cow and said she could shag me senseless if she wanted and there was nothing Pansy could do about it." Draco said keeping his voice calm. Ginny howled with laughter and had hold onto the table for support.

Snape also had to use control to keep from laughing. The way the littlest Weasley laughed made everyone want to join her. She had a laugh that was quite contagious much like Lily's had been. "Miss Parkenson, I do not feel inclined to get involved in this situation you have obviously gotten yourself into. I expect you to handle the matter yourself. If I hear of you threatening Miss Delacour again I will have to discuss the matter with the Headmaster. I expected more from you." Snape said with such scorn that Pansy teared up before running from the room.

"Back to work you two," Snape said before locking himself in his office for a good laugh. Draco finally released his laugh and they resumed making their potions. They were almost finished when Gabrielle walked in looking thoughtfully around.

"Hello Draco, Ginny. Is this the potions classroom? I was told by that ugly girl that Professor Snape wanted to see me." She said winking at them. Ginny realized that she was going to interrupt Snape just to make things harder on Pansy.

"He is in his office," Ginny said pointing and giggling at Draco's smirk.

"Poor Pansy doesn't have any idea what she just got herself into," Draco chuckled. "This rest of this year may prove amusing yet."

Gabrielle knocked on her head of houses office door making sure to look confident yet slightly intimidated. She entered after being told to. "Good Afternoon Professor, I was told you wanted to speak with me." She said as she took in his brooding look of annoyance at the disturbance.

"I did not ask to speak with you, you may leave." He told her as he redirected his attentions back to the book he had been reading.

"I am sorry to disturb you Professor. That girl Pansy Parkinson said she had just spoken with you and that you needed to speak with me. I must have misinterpreted the message. I am sorry to interrupt your reading sir." She said smiling at him through batted lashes.

"For future reference Miss Delacour, if I wished to speak with you I would not send the message with Miss Parkenson. Feel free to ignore her if she tells you I need to speak with you. If I need to speak with you I will either tell you myself or send a message with Draco or one of the other trustworthy prefects." Snape tried not to smile as she left his office. She had been turning on her Veela charms for him and he found that highly amusing.

Gabrielle gave Draco a sly look as she walked out of the professor's office. Ginny giggled. "You're playing with fire with that one," Ginny said tilting her head toward Snape's office.

"Yes, but what fun is the game if you can't get singed a little bit," Gabrielle said causing Draco to snort and Ginny to laugh again as she left them to finish their project.

Chapter 27: Intended

Dumbledore stood up at dinner to make an announcement. "We will be having a dueling tournament this year." He paused to let the cheers die down. "To determine the best students in each house we will first be having inner house competitions. Once the best male and female student from each year is determined they will compete in a round robin tournament against those in the same year of the other houses. Once we have the male and female champion of each year they will then compete in a tournament to determine the Hogwarts Champion. All students are encouraged to participate. Your heads of houses will have further instruction regarding the initial inner house competition." He finished letting the hall fill with the chatter of happy students.

"It seems as though they like the idea," McGonagall said chuckling at the commotion the announcement had started. "Even the Slytherins look pleased."

"Yes, we finally found an activity the entire school seems willing to participate in." Dumbledore told her. "We should have tried this earlier."

The talk around the school for the next few days was solely on the tournament and who they believed would be victorious for each house. There was quite a large betting pool on who would become the Hogwarts Champion. Harry was favored 5 to 1 over the next candidate which was Malfoy. The 7th years didn't even take offense that they were not favored to win the competition, they we betting on Potter themselves.

Draco and Ginny had finished brewing potions early and decided to take a walk near the lake to clear their heads of all the potion fumes. "I am excited about the tournament, how about you?" She asked him.

"Sure, I have will have no problems winning the Slytherin competition. I could probably do it blindfolded with the lack of serious competition in my year. How about you, is there anyone who can take you?" He joked with her.

"Not likely," Ginny laughed. "They all know to stand clear or they might be facing my patented bat boggey hex." She said causing them both to laugh. They were laughing and talking and didn't notice the nosey person watching from the bushes with a scowl on her face.

Pansy Parkenson stormed up to the school ahead of Draco and Ginny who were still unaware that their friendship had been found out. As they walked in the entrance hall Pansy rounded on them. "What do you think you are doing with that muggle lover?" Pansy spat. "It is bad enough you sticking up for that hussy new part Veela but now you are hanging all over the words ofâ of" She started trying to come up with exactly what she thought of Ginny. "Of Potter's whore." She finished watching as Ginny's eyes narrowed and she took out her wand.

Before Ginny had a chance to hex Pansy Draco placed a calming hand on her arm. "As I said before Pansy, it is not smart to get on the wrong side of the Minster of magic. Miss Weasley and I have decided to be civil with each other and you should as well." He said praying she would believe his excuse.

"Civil to each other?" Pansy asked as if he were crazy. "I saw you two together by the lake talking and joking as if you were old friends, or worse. What do think screwing this little Gryffindor slut will win you?" She asked glaring at Ginny again.

"I can be friends with whoever I want to be. I do not have to explain my actions to you." Draco said close to hexing the girl himself. "If I choose to befriend the minister's daughter it is of no concern to you. My life will never by any of your business, no matter how much you want to be in my life you will never be good enough to be married to a Malfoy." He spat watching as Pansy shrank back from him in shock.

Her parents had guaranteed her that they would get his parents to make him marry her when they graduated. He had always listened to his parent's advice before this year. She knew it was the Gryffindor girl that was affecting him so much. "You will end up with me Draco Malfoy," Pansy said trying to regain her composure. "Our families have decided that long ago."

"No Pansy they have not. My family went along with the notion only because another suitable candidate was not available. Now there is and I intend to make my change of intention known to my parents." Draco said icily to her enjoying watching her eyes twitch trying not to cry. "I have never been attracted to you Pansy, and I would have been miserable having to spend my life with you."

"You can't tell me that you think she will choose you over Potter." Pansy said with an evil laugh. "She is a Gryffindor and will run back to him and you will be alone again and be begging me to take you back."

"Don't be so sure Parkinson. You read too much into things. I never said my attentions had shifted outside Slytherin. I am a Malfoy and will make a match worthy of that name. How my father ever though you were worthy of me was ludicrous." Draco said before turning to Ginny. "Thank you for the walk, I'm sure Potter is looking for you."

"Have a nice evening Draco," Ginny said smiling sweetly at him and watching Pansy's face contort in rage. "I'll see you tomorrow then? Same time?" He nodded before she turned to walk up the staircase leading toward Gryffindor tower.

The next morning the great hall was full of the buzz that Draco Malfoy and Ginny Weasley were sleeping together behind Harry's back. Harry whispered to Ron to ignore the rumors and remember what Ginny had told them last night about the confrontation with Pansy. Draco walked into breakfast knowing the talk would be about him and Virginia. He saw Ron and Harry shoot him death glares for the benefit of the school.

"If he says anything to me I'm going to jump and attack him like we had planned," Harry whispered to Ron. "Stay out of it no matter what he says to egg me on."

Ron nodded and was about to comment when he noticed Draco walking their way with a smirk on his face. "Well well well, it seems the whole school thinks I'm banging your woman Potter. Not surprising though. Why would she want you when she could have someone as handsome and rich as me?" Draco said goading Harry into a fight.

Harry spun around in his seat and glared at Draco. They were the center of attention in the great hall. "Ginny has informed me of your friendship. I know there is nothing going on between you two. She would never sink low enough to go out with a bouncing ferret." Harry said smugly watching Draco's eyes narrow as he realized they were about to get into their staged fight.

"Believe whatever you want Potter, but you know that no woman can resist my charms. And the little red head is just so fiery. Did you know she really is a natural red head?" Draco asked with a wink and a smirk. "Her fingers do amazing things."

That was all Harry could take. He knew Malfoy was just pretending for the sake of their fake fight but he didn't like the thought of his Ginny with anyone else. He lunged at Malfoy tackling him to the ground and getting in a few punches before he was pulled off of Draco by a very angry Professor Snape. Professor McGonagall was helping Draco up while Professor Dumbledore and Remus looked at the two boys with masked expressions.

"Severus, take Draco to the Hospital Wing and have Poppy check him over." Dumbledore said as Snape released Harry who was trying not to smile as he looked at his shoes trying to appear ashamed of himself.

"The boy deserves to be severely punished for this Headmaster," Snape said as if on cue. "Mr. Malfoy did nothing to provoke such an assault."

"I am aware of the situation and will handle it accordingly. Thank you Severus." He said ending the conversation as Draco played the part of a wounded martyr and moaned as Snape helped him out of the great hall. Draco made sure he sent a wink to his cronies at the Slytherin table as he passed so they realized he had just set Potter up.

"Detention Mr. Potter," McGonagall started to say but was cut off by Dumbledore.

"No Minerva, I am afraid a detention will not be enough for this situation." He said before turning back to Harry. "Mr. Potter you are hereby forbidden from participating in the upcoming dueling tournament. You will also make a public apology to Mr. Malfoy for your outburst and for disrupting your fellow students during their breakfast." The students all looked shocked from one to the other. Harry Potter had been forbidden from participating in the dueling tournament!

Harry looked up at Remus who wore a look of anger Harry knew was feigned. Remus grabbed him by the side of his robes and drug him from the great hall saying loud enough for everyone to hear. "You are very lucky it's not a full moon or I'd be ripping you to shreds for an act like that. You promised me no more fighting this year. We are going to have a serious talk young man!"

The Slytherins all chuckled at Harry was dragged out of the hall by his father. They had all been surprised to find that Remus had adopted Harry but were happy for it now so they could imagine Saint Potter getting a good lecture, hopefully more.

Gabrielle raced to the hospital wing as soon as Remus had drug Harry off. She wanted to let Draco know exactly what had happened before the other Slytherins blew it out of proportion. He was lying in a bed with a smile on his face and happily chatting with the nurse and Snape. He smiled when he saw her and motioned her over. "So what happened after we left?"

"Professor McGonagall went to give Harry detention but Dumbledore overruled and banned him from the dueling tournament as well as told him he had to publicly apologize to you for what he did. Then Professor Lupin drug Harry off for a good talking to, or so it was led to believe." Gabrielle said. "The Slytherins were very happy, it seems you just removed the favorite from the tournament."

"I'm just glad it all went according to plan without either one of you two boys ending up in here with broken bones." Madame Pomfrey said. "You should stay here for a couple more hours to make sure the story is believable." She said going into her office.

Snape was about to say something when the doors opened and Pansy Parkinson walked into the wing. "I hope you feel better soon Mr. Malfoy." Snape said leaving Draco to deal with the annoying girl.

"Oh Draco are you all right?" Pansy asked rushing to his side. She had not even noticed Gabrielle who had been standing behind Professor Snape.

"Why would you care?" Gabrielle shot out, "You're the reason this all happened. You and your gossip and lies set this all in motion." She glared. "You are lucky he is such a gentleman, if I were him I would have hexed you six ways from sideways the minute you walked in the room."

"He's the one shagging a Gryffindor!" Pansy retorted. "He should have known that it would end up this way."

"I have not had any relations with Virginia Weasley and I never will," Draco said not masking his sadness well enough. Gabrielle sent him a questioning look but Pansy was too dumb to notice his tone.

"You practically told Potter and half the great hall that you did," She said stubbornly.

"Yes, I said that to get to Potter. I was hoping he would hex me and get expelled but the stupid prat seems to forget he is a wizard when he is angry." Draco drawled.

"I knew you wouldn't cheat on me Draco!" Pansy said all excited.

"I could shag the entire school and it wouldn't be cheating on you Pansy," He told her shaking his head that she still hadn't gotten the point. "We are not and will never be together."

"I'll leave you two to fight this out," Gabrielle said leaning close and kissing Draco on the cheek. "Do get better," She told him enjoying the glare she received from Pansy as Draco picked up her hand, kissed it and smiled at her. "Later Pug," She said smirking at Pansy as she walked out of the wing.

"How many girls do you have behind my back Draco?!" Pansy asked scandalized.

"I'll have as many as I want. I am a Malfoy and will do as I please. Even when I marry I will do as I please." He told her watching her face fill with hurt. He knew she harbored strong feelings for him and had begged he parents to set them up. He couldn't stand to look at her let alone have her as his girlfriend or worse yet as his wife. "I have written my mother and told her that I refuse to accept the union between our families. Since I am now the head of the house I have the ability to pull out of the arrangement without repercussions."

"What am I supposed to do now?" She asked crying. "Why don't you want me?"

"I know that both Crabbe and Golye would be interested in a relationship with you. Go pester one of them and leave me alone." Draco said loosing patience with her. "I cannot believe they let blubbering fools into Slytherin, with the way you are acting you should be in Hufflepuff."

At that insult she stomped out of the hospital wing to write her father a letter. She would have Draco Malfoy if it was the last thing she did. She wanted the prestige and power of being Mrs. Malfoy. She knew Draco would soon take his rightful place by the side of the Dark Lord and she wanted the power of being his wife. Her parents had suggested she take the dark mark over Christmas. She had told them that she was waiting until Draco took his so they could join together. She had greatly exaggerated their relationship to her parents over the years.

Draco sniggered and headed back to his common room. He might have finally gotten rid of Pansy. He went to his room to draft a letter to his mother to tell her about Gabrielle. He knew she would appreciate that he would not longer fight her for marrying someone in his house. He had promised his parents that he would wed a pureblooded woman worthy of the Malfoy name.

He sat down on the green leather sofa in front of the fire deciding what to do that day. Professor Snape had decided it would not be good for him and Virginia to work together today. "What are you doing today?" Gabrielle asked as she sat down next to him on the sofa.

"I'm not sure. I was supposed to be making potions with Red for Snape but since the incident this morning Snape feels we should keep our distance from each other." Draco told her.

"Want to go for a walk so we can talk in private?" She asked him as the common room was way too crowded to ask the question she wanted answered.

"Sure," He said grabbing her hand and pulling her off toward the exit. He made sure to send suggestive winks to the other boys in the room who would assume he was taking her off to have a good snogging.

They wandered up to the astronomy tower and sat on a bench he conjured. "So what's on your mind?" He asked noticing her intense stare.

"Are you in love with her?" Gabrielle asked curiously. She had seen the strange way he looked when he told Pansy he would never have a relationship with Ginny.

"Who are you talking about?" Draco asked and then covered up with. "Malfoy's don't fall in love, we only marry for power."

"So you do love her then," Gabrielle said scooting closer to him. "I'm sorry she's in love with Harry." She laid her head against his shoulder.

Draco looked down at her silvery locks pressed against his bicep. She was a very sweet girl when she wanted to be. "I'm happy for her. She deserves someone like Potter. He will treat her the way she deserves. I'd just end up pushing her away when my true Malfoy colors were unfurled." He told her as he ran his finger through her hair.

"Your father won't be too happy about me either. You do know that death eaters are trying to kill me right." She asked him.

Draco smirked, "That was when they thought they couldn't turn you to their side. Now you're in Slytherin they will leave you alone as long as you seem to be on their side. I don't think there is much hope for them lying off your sister though. She is dating a Weasley and that makes her a target."

"They won't give up just because I'm in Slytherin." Gabrielle said sadly.

"No, but they will when I tell them that I want you as my intended." Draco said making her sit up suddenly to look at him.

"What? Are you crazy? Why would you want to be stuck with me?" She asked looking at him skeptically.

"They wanted me to marry Parkenson of all people. The giant squid would be more desirable than her. There are not very many pureblood witches my age whose families are free of suspicion. The Parkenson's have avoided suspicion so far. You are even better because to the ministry it would look like I was marrying a pure little part Veela." Draco told her honestly. "I know you are a few years younger than me and probably not wanting to even think of life outside school, but just think about it."

"I don't believe in love," Gabrielle told him which surprised him. "I will never know if a man wants me for who I am or if I inadvertently gave him a dose of Veela charms and he can't help himself." She said sadly.

"Only pure Veela's can control men, you are only ¼ Veela so you cannot force a man to do something he doesn't want to do. I read about Veela in 4th year when your sister showed up. Your charms can only intensify what the man is already feeling so you shouldn't worry too much." He told her putting his arm around her.

"So what feelings have I intensified inside of you?" She asked with her Veela purr. "Or are Malfoy's so cold hearted that they are impervious to a Veela's charms?"

"You are a brave little thing. I'd say you would belong in Gryffindor since you had the nerve to say that but seeing your calculating eyes I know you're a true Slytherin." Draco told her laughing. "I wrote my mother earlier to tell her about you so she would be prepared when Pansy's outraged father shows up demanding to know why I hurt his precious baby."

"It was a match made for power so why would he believe it to be anything else?" Gabrielle asked.

"Pansy has been telling anyone who would listen for the past 5 years that we were an item. She even invited herself as my date to the Yule ball in 4th year. He parents are stupid and believe everything she tells them. I couldn't believe it when my father told me she was to be my intended. I was tortured by him for a week after I told him what I thought about the arrangement." Draco told her.

"She is such an ugly girl, I can't image your father would want to have grandchildren that could look anything like her," She said giggling.

"He even admitted to me once that she was a hideously repulsive creature and told me that I was free to kill her as soon as she provided me with an heir." Draco shuddered.

"Great, I wonder what he'll say about me." She said darkly.

"Does that mean that you'll do it?" Draco asked her smiling. "Of course a Malfoy always gets what he wants, so you wouldn't have been able to resist me for long." She pushed him playfully in the arm for his smart comment.

"Yes, but remember my heritage and know that if I turned my charms on you, you'd be eating out of my hands. I'll be the one getting what I want in this relationship." She told him slyly.

"And what would that be Gabbs?" He asked her knowing she hated nicknames.

"Security, either way the war goes we will come out on top." She told him. "With the Dark Lord defeated we will be one of the only pureblood families left that is respected by anyone. If the good side looses we will have your name to hide behind and can live out our days safely in the darkness."

"It will be an interesting match," He commented. "I am part vampire, you're part Veela. Our kids should be really interesting."

"I'm only 14 years old, please don't mention kids again until I'm at least out of school." She scolded him making him laugh. "I didn't realize you had vampire blood in you."

"Yes, but that is not common knowledge so keep it to yourself." He told her as they headed downstairs for lunch.

"I'm so sorry about the tournament Harry," Pavarti told him sadly.

"You should have waited and fought him outside where the teachers couldn't see you." Lavender told him. "You could have been expelled."

"No, I didn't use my wand to fight him so they could only have given me detention for the rest of the year." Harry told her.

"At least I'll be able to be in the tournament now," Neville said happily. Harry wasn't going to let him in on the secret, he wanted Neville to win.

"What makes you think you'll beat me or Seamus?" Dean asked their normally non-confidant friend.

"Because he will," Hermoine told them with a smile. "I think Neville may win the entire tournament. It would have been good to see him and Harry duel though."

"You want to make a wager on that?" Seamus asked her with a sly smile.

"Sure, let's say 10 galleons that Neville is the one to win our year's tournament and another 10 that he is in the final for our year against the other houses." She said with a smirk. Harry and Ron looked at each other stunned. Hermoine never bet on anything!

"You have a bet," Dean said shaking her hand. "I am afraid you should start saving your money though. I've seen Longbottom in classes; he doesn't always know which way to hold his wand."

Neville glared, he hated how everyone teased him. "I think he'll win too," Harry said butting into the conversation. "In fact I'll make a wager with you as well. I'll pay you each 20 galleons if he doesn't make it into the final round for our year. If you loose you have to bow before Neville and kiss his shoes on top of that you will have to run around the common room in only your underpants to show what idiots you were."

"So you're going to pay us 40 galleons if we win and if we loose all we have to do is grovel and be utterly humiliated?" Dean asked impressed. "Sign me up!" They all shook hands.

"Harry that is a lot of money, I might not do that well." Neville said hurriedly to his friend.

"I believe in you Neville. Besides, even if you don't, it will be ok. Just do your best." Harry said smiling. Ron just looked bewildered. Between Harry and Hermione they had just bet 60 galleons on Neville's dueling skills!

"Where are you going to come up with that kind of money Hermione?" Neville asked her quietly.

"I won't have to Neville. You're the best and are going to win." She said matter of factly. With her being that sure his confidence went up another few degrees. He leaned closer to Harry and whispered, "I'll get Malfoy this time around."

Gabrielle sat in classes that day bored out of her mind. She had already transfigured a stack of toothpicks into needles within the first 5 minutes of class and had finished her homework in all her classes for the next month. McGonagall stood and watched the young girl before walking over to her desk with a small white mouse.

"Miss Delacour," She said getting the girls attention. "I want to test your skills. I want you to attempt to vanish this mouse please." She handed her the mouse and a 5th year text. "You will find what you need to do in the book."

Gabrielle set the mouse down on the desk. Looked straight at her Professor and vanished the mouse on the first try without looking it up in the book. "May I ask how you knew to perform that spell?" McGonagall asked. Her interest in the girl had tripled since the start of class.

"My mother kept me home with her for two years after I received my invitation to Beauxbatons. I was so bored with hanging around the house that I read all of Fleur's textbooks and most of the other books in my father's home library. I have a photographic memory and can recall the exact spell and wand movements as if were only yesterday that I read the book." Gabrielle told her; glad someone finally noticed her boredom.

"I will speak with Professor Dumbledore about advancing you to another year." McGonagall told her making the young Veela smile.

"Thank you Professor. No one at my old school cared that I was top of my class, had most of my schoolwork for the year done within the first month and was so bored I fell asleep in class." Gabrielle told her happily. "The only thing keeping me from being bored is the extensive school library."

"I hear you are far too advanced for a second year, Miss Delacour. Are you interested in being tested to see which year you should be placed in?" Dumbledore asked the tiny little Slytherin before him.

"Yes sir, I would very much like to be placed in a higher year." Gabrielle told him. "When can the testing be done?"

"I can arrange for a ministry official to be here tomorrow for the test." Dumbledore told her with his eyes twinkling. "Please accompany me up to my office in the morning after breakfast for the testing." He told her was she left his office to go tell Draco.

Chapter 28: Counteracting Veela Charms

Ginny was sitting in her potions class waiting for the class to end. She had finished her potion 15 minutes into the class and was agonizing over the long wait. "You may start the potion for next class since you have finished Miss Weasley." Snape told her handing her the assignment for the next class.

She walked to the ingredient cabinet to take the few school ingredients that she would need when she had another vision. She was watching Harry in the DADA classroom taking a test. The doors opened and Fleur walked in and over to Gabrielle. She started to pull her from the classroom. Suddenly she was watching them walk into the forbidden forest. She saw two death eaters standing guard over another Fleur who was tied to a tree and seething. She could hear Gabrielle scream when she saw her sister both tied to a tree and holding her arm. The one holding her pushed her to the ground beside her sister and raised her wand. She said the killing curse and the Fleur on the ground was killed, obviously the real one. Gabrielle asked why they were doing this since she was a faithful Slytherin and intended for Draco Malfoy.

The death eater version of her sister said it was to show the penalty of disloyalty and to test her resolve. Another death eater told her it was payback for all the lives lost in the attack. Before Ginny could learn anymore she snapped back to reality and saw the quizzical eyes of Professor Snape as she stood still immobile in front of the supply cabinet. She noticed many of the students were staring at her wondering why she didn't just take her ingredient and move away.

"I'm sorry Professor," she said looking him in the eyes so he could tell she needed to speak with him in private. "This amber blossom is not new enough to make a proper hair relaxing potion. Do you have any newer blossoms?"

Snape realized why she stopped moving for so long and knew she had another vision. "Yes, I have some in my office. This way Miss Weasley." He said leading her through the door to his office so he could hear about the vision.

She told him quickly of her vision while he considered it carefully. "You should go immediately to the headmaster's office and recount this vision. We need to go examine the shelves of the ingredient cabinet first to make it look like we are looking for the amber blossoms. Then I will send you to tell the headmaster that someone has been pilfering my stores again. That should be a good enough reason to send you to see him. I do wish you would stop having vision while in my class." He told her as they carried out her plan.

She told the headmaster everything in her vision. "Have you ever used a pensive Miss Weasley?" He asked as he pulled his from its cabinet.

"No sir, but I know how to. Would you like me to retrieve my vision so you can study it closer?" She asked him as he nodded. She pulled the silvery thread of memory and placed it in the basin. He took her hand and then touched to surface before they were thrown headfirst into the memory.

They watched the entire memory and were standing back in the headmaster's office. "I'm not sure it's a good vision sir," she told him sadly. "Gabrielle is only in second year and yet here I saw her in the 6th year DADA class."

"Miss Delacour is being tested tomorrow morning to determine which year she will be accelerated to. I had not realized she would be as advanced as 6th year, but as you envisioned it, it may happen that way." He told her. "We need to determine a time for this to happen, I don't want to just guess. Let's try again." He pulled her inside the vision again.

Ginny walked closer to Tonks and she paced the room for the exam. She was about to give up hope of them finding the date when she noticed Hermione's homework planner open under her desk. The date was April 22nd since she had DADA exam circled in red. They were then thrown to the forest where Ginny paid attention to the plant life to see if it was really the right season for April. The trees were all beginning to blossom and there were birds in the trees.

"So what have you determined Miss Weasley?" Dumbledore asked her.

She realized the Professor had made her revisit her vision to note the details so she would have more accurate information. "I saw the date was April 22nd from Hermione's homework planner and the budding trees in the forest." She told him. "At least that means we have a while to figure out how to stop it."

"I will need to ponder what to do with this information for a while. I need you to only tell Order members about this. No telling Draco, Neville or especially Gabrielle." He told her as she nodded. He handed her a bag of amber blossom with a wink and sent her back down to class.

"Professor Dumbledore had some amber blossom sir." She said entering the room and holding up the bag. "He was concerned with the theft of yours and is having the house elves look into it sir."

"Very good, now get to work Miss Weasley." He said as he stalked around the room again taking off house points for potions that were not the right color.

"She had another vision?" Minerva McGonagall asked the headmaster as they had a meeting with professor Snape.

"Yes, she had it as she was retrieving ingredients from the store cabinet during class. I could tell what was going on. She covered well by commenting that the ingredient she was looking for was too old to be properly useful." Snape told them with a smirk.

"Well at least she is learning to cover her visions well." McGonagall stated.

"Should we be using her visions in this way? What if this is the way the events are supposed to play out?" Snape asked the wise old wizard behind the desk.

"I believe these visions come to her as a warning. Why else would she be having visions about people she knows and cares about? If events are supposed to turn out that way they will and there will be nothing we can do to stop it. I say we continue to try and change the events she sees to out advantage." Dumbledore told them.

"We are still very lucky she saw that cauldron exploding or you wouldn't be here Severus. I am surprised you are questioning her visions." McGonagall told him.

"I don't want to rely on her visions for our resistance efforts. We need to continue on with what we were doing before and use he insights to aid us not direct us." Snape said.

"Very well said Severus, we shall not make Miss Weasley into some sort of oracle." Dumbledore chuckled. "If you're not careful someone might actually think you care about your students' welfare." They all laughed at that comment.

Draco received a letter from his mother the next morning about both Ginny and Gabrielle.

My Son,

Your father and I were greatly disappointed to learn of your friendship with the daughter of that muggle-loving fool of a minister. We raised you to know better than that. I realize you do not want to jeopardize your future career at the ministry, but that will not happen. The current powers will be replaced with those worthy of our cause and that fear will be nullified. I sincerely hope that this new friendship is not the reason you stayed at school for the holidays. Your father informs me that you will be initiated as soon as school is ended for the year.

I am happy that you have found yourself such a good match in Miss Gabrielle Delacour. Your father and I approve. I delighted in relaying the news to Mrs. Parkinson last night. Your father informs me that without your match they will be useless to the cause and loose any remaining status they had within the circle. Remember that the tides of power can swiftly turn and not to let your guard down.

End the friendship with the muggle lover or face the wrath of your father and his associates. This behavior will not be tolerated in the circle.

Your Mother

He stuffed the letter into his pocket to show to Snape later in the day. He leaned over and whispered to Gabrielle. "My parents approve of our match."

"That is wonderful Draco. I shall write to my sister and we can announce it to the house later in the week." She told him as she continued to eat.

"Do we need to announce it?" He asked curiously. "Pansy can't keep her mouth shut so I'm sure they will all know already."

"This way there is no confusion and everyone will know for sure that Pansy is not your intended. I am sure they will all want to congratulate you on your match. The boys in the house have been ogling me since I arrived, this should end any ideas they have as well." She told him happy to have a reason to avoid all the repulsive boys in her house.

"Very well," Draco resigned. "Now you better head off to see Dumbledore and find out what year you're being advanced to." She smiled and scurried off after the old headmaster towards his office.

Gabrielle spent the entire morning taking written tests and demonstrating magic for the ministry official. "Very good Miss Delacour," The short little man said as she made her teacup dance across the table. "I believe you should take your OWLs within the next week. I will discuss the matter further with Professor Dumbledore and have your results by the end of the day." He told her as she excused herself to the library to read until they summoned her again.

"She is a remarkably bright young witch," the examiner told the headmaster. "She shows skills at an average 7th year level. Her written knowledge is almost as good. I would recommend placing her in 6th year so the adjustment will not be as difficult for her."

"You believe she will be able to handle all the 6th year classes?" Dumbledore inquired. "Have you tested her in the optional classes such as divination, ancient runes, care of magical creatures?"

"Yes, she exceeded in care of magical creatures, ancient runes, arithmacy and even muggle studies. She didn't seem too interested in the divination exam, although I have no doubts she could handle the class." The examiner told him. "Shall I return throughout the next week to administer her OWLs then?"

"Yes, I can have a room arranged if you would like to stay." Dumbledore told him. "Would you join me for lunch in the great hall?"

The two older wizards discussed the OWL and NEWT exams during lunch. Especially last year's exams with Umbridge being in charge of the school.

"I'm going to be in 6th year?" Gabrielle asked shocked. "That's great!" She said smiling at Dumbledore. "What about OWLs?"

"You will be taking them this week. I also need to know which exams you would like to be tested in and which elective classes you plan to attend." He told her.

"I wish to be tested in every subject for the OWLs," she said smiling. "I believe I am ready for all the written exams and most of the practicals with the exception of Divination. I wish to take the Divination exam anyway. As for future classes I do not wish to take divination or muggle studies." She told him smiling.

"Just because you are in Slytherin does not mean you cannot take muggle studies." The wise old man said with his eyes twinkling.

"Draco would be teased if I did and we both want to keep up his reputation as the Prince of Slytherin." Gabrielle told him.

"Then the rumors of your betrothement are true then?" HE asked smiling. "I am happy for the two of you."

"Yes, he needs a wife of pureblood and I hate how so many men and boys lust after me due to my Veela blood. I think it is a suitable arrangement. He did not want to be stuck with Pansy Parkinson and I am the only other alternative in his opinion." She told the man even though she guessed he had already known.

"You will have your exams in the great hall starting after breakfast tomorrow. They are timed exams although if you finish early you will start the next exam early as well." He said before excusing her.

"You're going to be in sixth year!" Draco said shocked. "That's great, you can keep Pansy away from me," he chuckled. They talked for a while before he had to head off to elite DA.

She noticed him trying to sneak out without drawing attention but 3 people asked where he was going. "Come on," She said grabbing his hand and winking at a few 3rd years near the door. When they were out in the corridor she said, "Now they will think we went off for a good snog and not wonder where you run off to every Monday night."

"Thank you," he said smiling as he headed off toward the room of requirement and she headed to the library. She was one of the only Slytherins who frequented the library so she knew their cover story wouldn't be blown.

"You and her are what?" Ginny asked in a loud voice making Hermoine raise her eyebrow at the young redhead.

"She is now my intended," Draco said casually, enjoying the way she seemed upset by the fact."

"That is horrible!" Ginny said, "No one should have to marry for anything but love. I can't believe you two are going along with this!"

"It's a good match. I need a pureblood witch or better and she wants security from all the idiots who throw themselves at part-Veelas." Draco explained calmly. "Besides, it keeps me from having to marry Parkenson."

"What does Fleur have to say about this?" Hermione asked curiously, "or Bill for that matter."

"I don't know, Gabrielle was going to write to her today but I'm not sure if she did with all the testing she was going through." Draco said.

"What testing?" Ron asked.

"She is skipping to 6th year," Ginny said offhandedly. They all looked to Draco for confirmation who also explained how she had a photographic memory and had read all her sister's textbooks not to mention her father's entire library and most of the one at Beauxbatons.

Hermione tried not to show how upset she was by this information. If Gabrielle was that talented she would have to work even harder to maintain her place at the top of each of her classes. She didn't think that a 14 year old could be better than her at writing essays and cross-referencing materials in the library.

"Deep breaths Hermione," Harry said going over to his friend who was about to have a panic attack thinking that someone could best her scores. "Don't worry about her. She just has an amazing memory. We should be glad to have another talented witch on our side." Hermione calmed considerably at that comment and they got on with their lesson.

Gabrielle received an owl from her sister at breakfast the next morning.

Gabrielle,

It pains me to think you care so little for love that you would arrange a marriage to someone as cold hearted as Draco Malfoy. I know how much you despise the way men ogle at you, but is this the only way to avoid it? I realize that the two of you are friends and that at this point in your lives it seems like a good idea, but what happens when you decide you do want to love? We both know it took me a long time to admit my love for Bill, or even that I was capable of loving, but look at how happy I am now. I want that happiness for you Gabri. Please consider this carefully. You know what side of the war his family is on, just be careful.

All my love,

Fleur

Gabrielle hurried back to her bedroom so as not to show her fellow Slytherins her emotions. Fleur was right, she knew she would want to fall in love one day, but she had decided against it. Draco would treat her right and she could be happy with him. She assumed they would each have other lovers; it was common practice once an heir was produced. She new better than to think her life could be a fairy tale with Prince Charming coming to rescue her and sweeping her off into happily ever after. HAH! She knew that was a bunch of crap. She dried her tears and went to start her first exam, pushing her sister's overly sentimental letter from her mind.

"How are OWLs going?" Draco asked her at lunchtime.

"Fine, I've finished transfiguration, charms and history of magic already." She said smiling at him as they ate.

"You are pretty quick to be finishing those so fast. I wasn't a big fan of the exams, but then again I can't visualize the answers to the questions in my head!" He said reaching past her for a roll.

"Fleur wrote me this morning," she tried to say casually. "She is slightly concerned that we are rushing into things. She wants me to keep my options open to marry for love someday."

"I thought you didn't believe in love?" Draco asked with a smirk. "She's your older sister and currently your guardian. I would expect her to be wary and not want you to rush into things with me."

"She thinks that just because Bill came along and opened her eyes to the wonderful world where couples are madly head over heals in puppy love with each other that I'll be able to find that as well," she told him.

"For someone who despised love, you do kind of sound like you're holding out hope." He told her smiling as she blushed. Seeing a Veela blush was an amazing experience. They emit a glow and everyone around them seems to be content for a little while.

"Damn," She whispered noticing what happened. "I am getting to comfortable with you Mr. Malfoy. You left me drop my defenses and now I went and dolled out a nice big dose of Veela charm. I expect you to be fighting the ravenous young boys off me for that."

Draco laughed, thinking she was joking until he noticed a few timid looking 1st and 2nd years walking toward where they were sitting at the table. AS he looked around her could see quite a few of the boys were squirming in their seats like they wanted to rush to her as well. He gave her a sheepish grin and a shrug of apology before wrapping his arm protectively around her and glaring daggers at anyone who approached.

She tried not to giggle at his feeble attempt at scaring them off. Seeing his arm around her would not deter them. He would have to try a lot harder or start hexing them seeing how the effects would be lasting a few minutes longer.

He kept looking around the great hall trying to think of some way to keep her away from the boys who were all hovering nearby with love stuck looks on their faces.

"What did he do to set you off?" Harry asked as he walked over with a look of amusement on his face. "Looks like the great Prince of Slytherin can't figure out how to counteract your charming personality." He laughed and walked off.

Draco was glad that Potter seemed immune to her charms. Men who were in love would not feel the effects of the Veela. In some cases the Veela charms caused them to become even more attached to their love interest.

The professors at the head table were all slightly amused with the look of uncomfortable hostility on the young Malfoy's face. They knew how much he hated not being in control of a situation and found delight in his pained features. Snape realized that Gabrielle was just leaning casually into Draco waiting for the charms to lift. He thought it interesting how she almost looked amused at the situation Draco had been put in. Then again, he must have said something to either embarrass her or arouse her as those were the only explanations for her sudden release of Veela charm.

"So do you think he embarrassed her or said something to arouse her?" Remus asked Tonks with a small growl at the word arouse.

"With the smirk on her face I'd say embarrass, especially with the way she seems to be amused at Draco's pathetic attempts at driving the boys away.

"She obviously hasn't informed him of the easiest way to nullify the Veela charms." He said smiling. "I like a woman who plays hard to get."

"You are misbehaving now mister Moony. Don't make me have to tell Harry on you." She teased. "I think you just might have caught a whiff of that spell. I can see the animal inside you ready to pounce on me." They laughed and returned to watching the ever growing crowd of boys hovering near Gabrielle.

"Go away and leave her alone," Draco told them all. "She does not want to be disturbed at the moment. She has exams this afternoon; she needs her peace and quiet."

Gabrielle chuckled to herself and snuggled further into Draco's shoulder. She loved how he thought he could talk reason into them. She jumped slightly startled when she felt someone tugging at the back of her robes. She looked to her left and saw a sly looking Slytherin 3rd year standing slightly behind her trying to get her attention.

"Let go of her robes," Draco said in a serious accusatory tone. "Let go now or I'll hex you until you don't have body parts enough to think about touching another woman again."

The third year did not look disturbed by his comment; rather he plopped down on the bench next to her and started trying to speak with her. Draco had enough. "Will you all return to your seats. Miss Delacour did not mean to bring you all over. She inadvertently charmed you while speaking with me." He realized this was pointless as she giggled at his words.

"Try something more drastic," she laughed.

"Fine," he said an idea forming. "If you all don't believe that she is not interested, let me demonstrate it for you!" He half shouted before turning her face towards his and consuming her in a fiery and intense kiss. He pressed his lips gently at first against hers and then built it up to a feverish pitch. He had never thought about kissing her before, but now that he had he wasn't ever going to stop. It was the best feeling he had ever experienced.

The charms broke and the boys stared at the two kissing for a second before heading back to their tables embarrassed. Ginny nudged Harry and they stared in awe at the two Slytherins who didn't seem to remember they were in the middle of the great hall. "Well, that should help him get over you." Harry told her as she giggled.

"Seems that he finally figured out how to break her charms." Hermoine said gesturing to Ron who couldn't decide if he was disgusted or not.

Draco finally pulled away from her breathing heavily and looking at her through eyes glazed with a passion he had never known he possessed. He looked at her searchingly for any sign of emotion.

"Took you long enough to figure it out," she told him with a small smile before turning back to her breakfast, leaving him to just stare at her in wonder.


	3. Chapters 29 through 44

Harry Potter and the Unlikely Alliances

Chapter 29: Plotting Revenge

Snape stood up from the teachers table and walked over to Draco and Gabrielle. "Miss Delacour in the future you need to control your emotional responses to eliminate the potential for this spectacle you created." He told her in his usual sneering tone. Gabrielle nodded her head at him. She was already embarrassed about what happened, she hated it when her Veela emotions got the best of her.

"It's my fault sir, I was giving her a hard time about our bethrothment and she blushed. I'm sure you are aware of what happens when a Veela blushes sir." Draco told his head of house surprising most of the table. He never admitted anything was his fault.

"You shall join me for detention tonight then Mr. Malfoy both for encouraging Miss Delacour and for the unnecessary display of physical contact." Snape said growling. "I expect you directly after dinner."

"Yes sir," Draco said keeping his head up and staring at Snape as the professor walked out of the great hall. He may have detention but he would not cower away from Snape to preserve his reputation.

"I thought you weren't affected by her Veela charms Malfoy," Pansy spat at him. "I guess we know you are more affected than the rest of us and that's why you'd leave me for this little slut."

Gabrielle wasn't going to just sit by and let Pansy claim she was using her charms to get Draco. "I know green is a Slytherin color Pug, but jealousy is such a Gryffindor trait. You could only ever dream that he would kiss you like that. Besides, Draco was only doing me a favor by breaking the charms I inadvertently gave off. Just because he doesn't want an ugly cow like you doesn't mean he's under my charms. He's just moved on to better things." Gabrielle said smugly.

"Yes, like little red headed Gryffindor's." Pansy said enjoying watching Draco squirm and Gabrielle glare and clutch her wand. "Didn't you know they were an item? Draco will do anything to get the best of Potter, even if it means shagging his poor little whore."

"What makes you more upset, that he could be friends with a Gryffindor or the fact that there are now two women that have a better shot at him than you ever will?" Gabrielle asked trying to keep her voice level and not pounce on Pansy.

"Shut it Parkenson," Blaise told her. "We're all on Malfoy's side so just shut that gaping hole you call a mouth. Besides, who cares if he shags all the purebloods in the school? I say more power to him for getting into the pants of Potter's little play thing."

Pansy just glared at everyone at the table and ran off to the Sltyherin common room to cry. Draco and Blaise gave each other high fives and went back to eating. Gabrielle just smiled and finished her meal.

"Those damn Slytherins are going to get what's coming to them one of these days," Ron grumbled. "I will not let them continue to insult Ginny like that."

"Why, at least they aren't focused on Harry or calling Hermione a mudblood." Ginny told her brother. "I can take care of myself Ron and they know it. You don't see any of them with the guts to say something to my face because they know I can hex the crap out of them."

"You'll get those Slytherin girls back at the tournament." Harry told her with a small kiss on the cheek.

"Neville you better hurt those damn snakes before you beat them. It's not fun to just take their wands, I want them bleeding and in pain." Ron said through clenched teeth.

"Don't worry Ron, I intend to. I'm Ginny's friend too and I won't let them get away with what they said. I'll take it out on Malfoy if I have to." Neville told them all.

"Why don't we just get some of Fred and George's products and use them in a war against the Slytherin gits." Ginny suggested to them.

"How are we going to get what we need?" Harry asked. "We're all out of our stock from Christmas already and besides they weren't strong enough for the torture I'm envisioning."

"They are opening a shop in Hogsmead. It won't be open yet this weekend but I'm sure they will let us in if we tell them our plans." Ginny said and they spent the rest of lunch, dinner and that night in the common room plotting revenge on the whole of Slytherin house. Even Hermione joined in with some original ideas.

"That's my girl; I knew we had rubbed off on you!" Ron said hugging her when she suggested charming all their toilet seats to bite at them like the biting tea cups from Zonko's.

"I figure I better join in now." She told them all. "If I get head girl next year I'll feel too much responsibility to join in. Besides, this should make the year more interesting."

Gabrielle finished all her OWLs in two days, a record according to the examiner. She was fairly certain she had passed all of them. She had just made stuff up on the divination practical exam. Dumbledore had called her to his office to discuss the results along with Professor Snape since he was her head of house.

"I just want to congratulate you on your performance on the OWLs," Dumbledore told her. "You have received very high marks. In fact you received the second highest marks in everything except Herbologry where you were third highest and muggle studies where you had the highest. For a 14 year old this is a remarkable accomplishment!"

"Thank you sir," She said as he handed her the results. She had received 12 OWLs! She couldn't wait to tell Fleur who had only received 10.

Ancient Runes: O

Arithmacy: O

Astronomy: E

Care of Magical Creatures: O

Charms: O

Defense Against the Dark Arts: O

Divination: E

Herbologry: E

History of Magic: O

Muggle Studies: O

Potions: O

Transfiguration: O

"Have you decided which of these classes you want to continue with?" Snape asked her seriously. "You cannot take 12 classes so you must get rid of at least 2 of the elective courses."

"Yes sir, I do not wish to take Divination or Muggle Studies." Gabrielle told them. "I know enough about muggles not to make any mistakes and I think Divination is a questionable course of study. I prefer proven sciences to guess works as well as I possess no inner eye."

Snape smirked at her; he felt the exact same way as she did about Divination. "Very well Miss Delacour, I will draw up your schedule and you can pick it up this evening."

"Welcome to 6th year!" Dumbledore said happily

Friday's DADA class was horrible. They were practicing dueling for the tournament. They had class with the Slytherins and the tension between the houses could be cut with a knife it was so tangible. Tonks was pulling a name of a Gryffindor from one hat to go against a Slytherin's name from another hat.

"Good thing you can't be in the tournament Potter. It should save you the embarrassment of loosing to me again." Draco drawled as he got up to duel Hermione. "At least I get to show your dirty little friend what a real wizard is capable of."

Hermione ended up loosing in the end but not before giving Draco a bloody nose and sending him flying across the room. "Very nice Hermione, Mr. Malfoy, five points for each of your for such a dedicated duel." Hermione grinned as she watched Malfoy wipe the blood from his face. She did not have any injuries even though he got her wand first. Ron had to duel Gabrielle, it was her first day in class. He beat her using Ginny's bat bogey hex before claiming her wand. The curse was not nearly as powerful as Ginny's but served its purpose.

The last pair to duel was Harry and Pansy. "Pay back time Parkenson," Harry told her. "Next time you'll learn to hold your tongue about my girlfriend."

"You wish Potter." She gloated. "I saw you loose to Malfoy that day. I know your talent is all luck, smoke and mirrors. I won't have to break a sweat to beat you."

"Professor Tonks, is there a prize for winning the duel the quickest?" Harry asked her with a sly smile.

"Yes Harry there is a gift certificate to Weasley Wizarding Wheezes. The current record is 1 min 15 seconds by Neville against Mr. Crabbe." She told him catching the glint in his eye. "Now bow and prepare."

Harry paced and faced her with a smirk on his face that Malfoy himself would be proud of. As soon as Tonks said go he sent a silencing charm at her and then bellowed the disarming curse and the duel was over basically before it ever ended. Pansy was left stunned across the room where she had landed after his powerful curse, never having time to even open her mouth to cast a spell. All the Gryffindor's broke into applause and even the Slytherins had to try not to smirk as Pansy stood up rubbing her back side.

"I thought you said you were going to beat him Pansy," Draco smirked. "You do know that you have to take his wand to beat him not just stare at him."

"Professor Tonks, I demand a rematch. Potter started before you said ready." She lied trying to save face.

"You know that is a lie Miss Parkenson, but I will allow the rematch if Harry wishes. Perhaps he can beat his own best time." Tonks said as Harry stood ready to duel her again. They faced each other and Harry couldn't help the even larger smirk on his face. As soon as Tonks said ready Harry yelled out the disarming curse, of course Pansy had cheated and yelled it out on the count of 2 instead of waiting for 3. Harry had no problems holding on to his wand even without the protego charm. Pansy just wasn't strong enough to force the wand from his hand. Her wand flew to him within seconds of starting the duel and she was flat on her face on the floor.

"Well done Harry!" Tonks said handing him the gift certificate. "10 points from Slytherin for Miss Parkenson's need to cheat and you will be joining Mr. Filtch for detention tomorrow."

"Nice job Parkinson," Draco spat. "Not only did Golden Boy beat you faster but you lost us points! You are so pathetic!" The other Slytherins sniggered at her and the Gryffindors tried not to laugh too loud.

Now we even have money to use at Fred and George's." Ron said excitedly. "We're using the school's money to get even with them!" They all laughed and started planning their trip to Hogsmead tomorrow. Ginny had owled the twins and they were very excited about the plan to torture the Slytherins. They were supposed to meet them outside their new store at 10 am to get started.

The next morning the entire elite DA group minus Draco was gathered together inside the twins' new shop. It was a lot larger than their store in Diagon Alley. They helped the twins and their friend Lee Jordan stock the shelves with the different products. "We have a workroom above the shop to help develop new items and our mail order business has tripled. It seems word of our product has been spread to Beauxbatons and Drumstrang. We've been shipping lots of product to France and Bulgaria."

"That's great!" Harry said shaking their hands. "Hermione has a good idea as an alternative to Zonko's biting teacups. She thinks you should charm biting toilet seats."

George burst out laughing, holding onto Fred for support. "Our little Hermione came up with that?" Fred asked.

"We have finally rubbed off on Miss Prefect!" George howled. "Can you imagine the looks on those Slytherin's faces when their toilet seat takes a bite at them?" They all rolled around in laughter at the idea.

"We came up with a new product with the Slytherins in mind," Fred said showing them up to their "Testing Lab" to point out the new product. "We call it 'See-through Soap' and if you wash clothes in it, it will cause the clothes to have areas become invisible randomly and then reappear and then another area to become invisible. It won't wear off until they are washed again in normal soap and won't start showing their invisible nature until on a body for more than 30 minutes."

"That is pure genius," Neville said holding the bottle of soap lovingly.

"We won't put it on the market; it's a specialty item only that we are granting a select few." George said.

"At least until the joke is out of the bag, and then we can sell it in mass." Fred added.

"What else you got?" Justin asked grinning and enjoying being in on the joke.

"This is a powder you sprinkle on the person's towel. When they wipe their face it places full makeup on guys and a moustache on girls. Guaranteed to last until they wash their face again." Fred said proudly.

"That's perfect," Hermione added, "When they wash their face again and dry it with their towel the whole procedure starts again until they are smart enough to realize it's their towel that's causing it!"

"My new personal favorite is our incredible 'Shrinking Underwear' we have it in boxes, briefs and thongs. It also comes in multiple prints and colors if you are interested." George told them smiling. "When the person puts them on they shrink in incremental amounts. Eventually they will be so tight the person will take them off and they will immediately return to normal size in hopes the person thinks they were imagining it and wears them again."

"Lee even designed out newest line for Hogwarts. 'Tap Dancing Trainers' they will cause the wearer to have the compulsive urge to dance." Fred told them. "The best part is they are just insoles in the shoe that will automatically size themselves and blend in with their current insoles."

"Bloody brilliant," Ron laughed. "I can't wait to see the Slytherins dancing around like the complete morons they are!"

They left the store with enough insoles for every Slytherin and a few extras in addition to quite a few pair of shrinking underwear, jars of Funny Face Powder, Tonks line of shampoo (a different color with each application), itching powder for their bed sheets, three swamps, a box of fireworks, fake howlers for everyone (Pansy would get a real one so her entire house will know why they are being pranked), and loads of their new candies. Ferret Fudge in honor of Malfoy (in development since 4th year) that turns you into a pure white ferret for and hour, Pug Face Pecan Fancies that turns you into a dog (a Pug) for 30 min that they worked on after seeing Pansy, and Toad Toffee that turns you into a toad that looks exactly like Trevor for 10 min.

"These are going to be the best pranks ever!" Hannah laughed. "I can't wait to get started!" They spent the rest of the day plotting out how and who would sneak into the Slytherin common room. They decided to do it during a prefect meeting. Only two prefects from each house have to attend the weekly meeting since they all have to attend the monthly meeting. Hermione and Ginny would attend the meeting to avoid suspicion along with Justin and Hannah. That left Harry, Ron, Neville, Luna and the Creevy brothers to plant all the stuff. Hermione, Ginny and Luna would take care of the girls' rooms during dinner. No one was ever suspicious when Hermione missed a meal and it was easy to explain that she was helping Ginny and Luna with a project.

They decided that they would start the project during next week, performing one prank per day. Hermione and Ginny snuck into the common room under their invisibility cloaks the next day at lunch. They added some of Tonks trick shampoo to each of the girls shampoo bottles, funny face powder on their face towels as well as the itching powder to the sheets (it was time released not to effect them until two days from now). They inserted the dancing insoles into each of their shoes making sure to place the time activation for Friday morning during breakfast.

The boys snuck in during the prefects meeting and made sure to get everything set just like the girls. Harry had placed shrinking underwear in Crabbe and Goyle's drawers and had a lace thong pair placed on Pansy's bed with a note. "I'll always be able to get in your panties." Signed "Draco." He knew that Pansy would snatch up the chance to wear underwear Draco had touched.

They were sneaking into the laundry tonight to add the "See-through Soap" to the Slytherin loads and were still plotting on how to feed the candies to them. They used their invisibility cloaks again to sneak to the laundry and added the soap to the Slytherin loads with no problem. Hermione had told them to only do it to the load of cloaks but Ron and Neville couldn't help but add it to their uniform loads as well. Harry was playing the diversion with the shrunken sock her was complaining about. He had shrunk the sock himself so he could show the elves how sad he was that one of his socks from Dobby had shrunk in the laundry.

Harry almost felt bad for the elves; although he told them it would be fine if they could just fix his sock since it meant so much to him. He told them they were his lucky Quidditch socks as he had worn them for several games since they were quidditch patterned.

The next morning was priceless. The Slytherin girls wearing moustaches and some of the boys wearing makeup! They all had different color hair when they came down. The great thing about the shampoo is that the effects are not noticeable for an hour after washing and won't wear off until you wash your hair again. The effects were worsened if you tried to charm your hair back to normal as well as for the funny face powder. If you tried to charm off the moustache you ended up with a full beard just like Dumbledore's but in your own natural color and if you tried to charm off the make up you ended up with full blown clown face paint. When the hair was charmed it would spike up in all directions or grown into pig tails or some other not so flattering hair do.

Malfoy seemed one of the only ones with his natural platinum hair color and could be heard yelling at his housemates. "That's what you get for leaving your grooming products out where anyone can access them. I lock mine in my trunk so you don't see me with purple hair!"

Tonks was shaking in silent laughter at watching he shampoo idea in use. She winked at Harry as she buried her face in Remus' cloak to muffle her laughter. All the professor's seemed amused, and this was just stage one! Snape attempted to rid Pansy of her moustache and she sprouted her beard that matched her olive green hair! McGonagal could be heard snorting into her coffee mug and Drumbeldore was chuckling and had laughter in his eyes. He stood up and told the Slytherins to remain calm. "I am sure these are only joke shop products and will wear off after time. I will do my best to research how to remove them and will inform Professor Snape when I do. Now I must remind the rest of you that pranks against other students are not allowed and if I have any evidence of who performed these pranks or the reasons behind them, I will have to punish the individual or individuals responsible." Then he sat down and continued to chuckle.

Professor Snape was not in a good mood that morning in Potions. He seemed to be taking the fact that his own students looked like circus performers to be a personal insult. When Pansy blew up a cauldron because she stuck her long beard in it, which was the last straw. "Miss Parkenson, you will join me tonight for detention to clean up this mess you have just made." He told her glaring.

"But Professor it was the beard, I cannot work with it!" She told him.

He rounded on her and gave her his iciest sneer. "5 points from Slytherin for your inability to hold your tongue. If I hear one more word from any of you about these side effects of the prank affecting your work there will be quite a few of you in detention tonight." The other houses only smiled and made sure not to utter a noise the rest of class. The Slytherins lost another 15 house points throughout the class, it was a beautiful sight to watch. The rest of the day progressed in much the same nature. Gabrielle and Draco were the only ones not affected by the shampoo. They had both been inflicted by the Funny Face powder but had realized it was on their towels and therefore were some of the only unaffected ones.

"I don't understand how you and she can be the only ones not affected!" Goyle said glumly at lunch.

"Neither one of us leaves any personal belongings lying around to be tampered with. We were both affected by the make up or mustache but somehow were able to wash it off our faces without incident. Perhaps our soap is more powerful than the one you used." Draco commented offhandedly. He wasn't going to reveal the way to get their faces clean, the stupid gits would have to figure that out for themselves along with the rest of the house.

DADA was viscous again as the Slytherins all suspected that Gryffindors were responsible for their new looks. Ron and Ginny were the number one targets of their rage as it was their brother's products that caused their humiliation. They were all glad when the day was over without either Weasley being hexed, although there were quite a few Slytherins in detention for trying and two were in the hospital wing due to Ginny's bat boggey hex.

"That was a nice trick there Potter." Draco drawled as he walked into elite DA followed by Fleur who Harry had told him to invite along.

"I don't know what you are talking about Draco. I don't see why when anything that happens to the Slytherins I am an automatic suspect. You know that ¾ the school would love to claim responsibility for those acts." Harry said sweetly.

"Would have been nice if you could warn us." Gabrielle said shrugging.

"If you were warned then your housemates would think you were in on it and never speak with you again." Ginny told them both.

"Is there any way you can give us a small warning so as to not embarrass ourselves any more than needed?" Draco asked. He knew they were responsible and actually found it quite impressive.

"I would suggest not wearing any undergarments that have recently been laundered tomorrow." Neville said smiling.

"And to do a through cleaning charm on your bed sheets," Luna piped up.

"Although if you do that you will have to pretend to itch as well or they will suspect." Hermione told them.

Draco and Gabrielle looked in awe at everyone in the room. "So you're telling me that every one of you is involved with this?" He was shocked as everyone smiled and nodded their heads.

"Just out of curiosity, why are you doing this?" Gabrielle asked smiling.

"You'll find out Wednesday morning." Harry told them, "Until then it remains a mystery." They all laughed and started practicing spells they wanted to use in the dueling tournament. They were all determined to win and practiced against Harry to better themselves.

Chapter 30: Pranks-R-Us

Colin had made sure to keep his camera handy to snap pictures of the pranked Slytherins. He had gotten quite a few of Pansy and some of the other most annoying gits and was contemplating putting together a calendar with the photos for next year.

The see-through soap had to have been one of the best things the twins had invented. Throughout the day different parts of the Slytherins clothes turned invisible and then would turn back to normal. Later on a different part of the clothes would turn invisible. Hermione and Ron had a good long fight at lunch time about him adding the soap to more than just their robes.

The other houses were quite amused by the disappearing clothing. The professors were not quite as amused but still tried not to laugh at the Slytherins as they screamed and tried to cover themselves. Harry got a note at lunch time:

Potter,

That was a nice prank, although I'm seeing way too much of some of my housemates. Can't wait to see what else you all have planned.

DM

The next morning they were all laughing as the Slytherins all were itching furiously. Draco and Gabrielle pretended to be in pain like their housemates as they silently thanked the gods that they were not in the line of fire. The owls arrived with the fake howlers that morning and the entire hall tensed and became quiet to see how the all of Slytherin had earned howlers at once. The Slytherins started sighing with relief as they realized they were fake howlers and only another part to the pranks that were being bestowed upon them.

Pansy opened her howler as well, expecting it to be a prank like the rest. It sprang to life and the voice was magnified above the rest. "Pansy Parkinson, next time you think of insulting members of the other houses remember that we know where you sleep and where you bathe. Hope your housemates enjoyed the little gifts that were left for them. Maybe next time you'll think before you open that gaping hole in your ugly pug face. Remember that you brought all this upon yourself and your housemates only have you to thank." Then the letter tore itself up and she looked up to see the entire hall staring at her. The members from the other houses were smirking and laughing but her housemates looked like they were ready to kill her.

Gabrielle snorted in laughter. She just couldn't hold it back any longer as she watched the ugly girls face. Draco too was trying not to seem amused. "This is your fault Parkenson. I'm sure Professor Snape will be happy to learn that the reason his house is experiencing these rather embarrassing pranks and loosing house points due to them is because of your childish need to ridicule the other houses."

"This is all Potter's doing. All I did was tell the truth about you and the red headed little slut." Pansy said trying not to break into tears at the looks she was getting.

"I'd watch my mouth Parkenson," Gabrielle chimed up. "If they heard that comment this ridiculous string of pranks might continue and then we might have to take care of you ourselves. The Gryffindor way may be public and humiliating but the Slytherin way is secretive, nasty and undetectable." Draco watched in wonder as she laid into Pansy. She looked so beautiful when she was threatening people.

"If Draco hadn't been shagging the little Weasley in the first place none of this would have happened!" She shrieked afraid her house would turn on her and trying to push the blame off on someone else.

"Why would I settle for the littlest Weasley when I have such a beautiful woman on my arm already?" Draco asked winking at Gabrielle who took the hint and entangled her arm in his giving Pansy a look of contempt. "Miss Weasley and I have been amicable to each other while brewing special potions for Professor Snape. She is the daughter of the minister of magic and a pureblood witch and that is the reason I tolerate her. I have yet to come up with an appropriate reason to tolerate you." He said leading Gabrielle out of the great hall.

"That went well," Hermione commented on the spectacle at the Slytherin table. "At least we are done with all of this."

"Not quite 'Mione," Harry said as he laughed. "We have a little surprise for their Quidditch team this afternoon!"

"And don't forget the portable swamp for their common room after the game!" Ron sniggered. "We can't just let them off that easy; we have to give them everything we've got."

The rest of the day went smoothly. The Slytherins were being almost civil to the rest of the houses in hope the pranks would end. Draco had convinced the house to blame Pansy for everything that has happened and she was no longer one of the elite of the house, regardless of her ties to the outside and the dark lord. Gabrielle took her place as the highest 'ranking' Slytherin girl since she was betrothed to Malfoy. The Slytherin politics system was brutal but you were well respected if you were on top and could order everyone else around.

Harry and Ron knew that the professors would check everyone's wands to see who cast the invisibility charms on the Slytherin brooms so they called in Fred and George for backup. The twins snuck in using the Honeydukes secret passage and used invisibility cloaks to get to the broom shed. They cast the charms and it looked like all the Slytherin brooms had been stolen. They made sure to cast a faulty charm on Malfoy's broom so that with all the anti-hex spells on the broom it would wear off quickly. The twins went back to Hogsmead smiling at how they were still causing mayhem at the school.

Harry and Ron and Ginny were hanging out in the Gryffindor changing room to be as close to the broom shed as possible when the Slytherin team found out about their brooms. There was a collective yell and shouts to go get Professor Snape and Dumbledore. Hearing all the racket the three Gryffindors ran over to the Slytherin team to see what the problem was.

"Oy, what's with all the yelling?" Ron asked everyone gathered around. The Slytherin team looked murderous, even Malfoy looked ready to strike.

"Someone stole all our brooms!" A third year chaser said trying to look angry instead of ready to cry. "How are we supposed to play without our brooms!"

Professors Snape and Dumbledore arrived just then and Snape looked at the three Gryffindors with loathing. "You think its funny stealing their brooms?" He bellowed in his nastiest voice.

"We didn't steal anything Professor; we just heard all the noise and came over to make sure no one was hurt." Ginny said to him looking him straight in the eyes so he would believe her.

"What are we supposed to do about the game professor?" Draco asked still sending a glare at Potter. He knew this was part of their prank and didn't like the fact that they were messing with Quidditch. Nobody should mess with Quidditch it was too important.

"There is nothing to worry about Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore said smiling. "Your brooms are all right here where they should be, they just have an invisibility charm placed on them so you can't see them. Very clever."

"Are you sure Headmaster?" Severus Snape asked as he looked in the shed. As if on queue Malfoy's broom shimmered for a second before going invisible again. Draco raced over to his broom and picked it up.

"This is my broom." Malfoy said with relief in his voice. "The spell must be weakened with all the anti-hex charms I had placed on it." He looked over and saw the minuscule wink that Ginny gave him and realized they placed a weaker charm on his broom. The broom shimmered again and the team saw it and smiled knowing at least their brooms were safe. "How can we break the charms Professor?" Draco asked the headmaster.

"Invisibility charms wear off over time. Without the caster of the spell to reverse it the spell must run its course. I suggest each of you summon your broom to yourself and then use some extra polish to make parts of the handle visible to you for the game." Dumbledore told them.

"I suggest we check Potter and the Weasleys wands for the charms Professor since they were so quick on the scene." Snape said glaring at the Gryffindors.

"We didn't have anything to do with placing these charms sir." Harry told him and held out his wand. "You can check my wand for proof if you must."

Snape checked their wands and sneered when they all came up empty and went off with the Headmaster to check the wands of the other team to make sure it wasn't sabotage. The Slytherin team all summoned their brooms to them and ran off to the locker room to try and make their brooms somewhat visible.

Draco was the only one left standing by them. "How did you do it without your wand Potter?" He asked casually but very curious.

"I don't know what you're on about Malfoy," He said in case anyone was listening. "You're just lucky that whoever did this used such a weak spell on your broom."

"Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if your broom is fully visible by game time." Ginny told him. "It sure is lucky that you have so many protective charms on it." Draco finally realized that they planned for his broom to loose the spell before the game and was happy that they would at least do that for him.

"Good luck with the game Malfoy," Harry said. "It should be fun watching your team flying around in thin air." They all left for the stands to watch the game. They saved a seat for Hermione and Neville who were breaking into the Slytherin common room and setting up the swamps. They arrived just as the snitch was being released.

"How did it go?" Ron asked, "Did you run into any problems?"

"No problems what so ever." Hermione asked. "I take it they are all riding invisible brooms then?" She asked watching the Slytherin team as they seemed to be suspended in thin air.

"Malfoy seems to be the only one whose broom had lost its invisibility charm." Neville commented and then added for the benefit of those sitting around him. "It's a shame though; I would enjoy watching him fall off."

"Neville!" Hermione scolded, "That is a horrible thing to say."

Slytherin ended up winning the game. Most of the brooms had lost their charms by the end of the game. Draco caught the snitch in a spectacular rush through the center goal post effectively terrifying the opposing keeper. Hermione giggled as they all went off to their common room to celebrate their victory. "I hope they enjoy their party."

They all laughed as they imagined the looks on their faces when their common room was a swamp. They had been all sitting around the fire in the common room for an hour when McGonagall came in. "Mr. or Miss Weasley could you come with me for a moment. It seems someone has set up another one of your brothers swamps in the Slytherin common room and we were hoping you knew how to take it down."

"Sorry Professor but Fred and George don't share any secrets with anyone who isn't a partner in their shop." Ginny told her giggling that the teachers couldn't take it down.

"Could you come with me to the headmaster's office and call them by floo and see if they would be willing to come and remove it." She asked them.

"I wouldn't tell them it's in the Slytherin common room though, they might refuse to help. They always wanted to pull a prank in there but could never figure out how to get in." Ron told her as Ginny followed her to Dumbledore's office.

"Professor," Ginny said once they were alone. "I know that you and professor Flitwick could get that swamp removed in less than five minutes, why pretend that you can't?"

McGonagall chuckled that she was clever enough to see through the ruse. "Professor Snape has been ranting the entire afternoon that we are allowing our students to get away with torturing his students and driving us insane. He can't figure out the swamp, he is a brilliant man, but he hasn't used charms in a long time. We thought it would really irk him to have to watch your brothers remove it easily. You know how much he hated them in school. We figured we would take advantage of your little prank."

"Sounds good," Ginny said. "You don't think that I had anything to do with this prank do you Professor?" Ginny asked innocently.

"Miss Weasley, I think a lot of people had something to do with all these pranks. It seems to me that members from each house have banded together to pull off these pranks. Since the obvious people would be yourself and Harry and his friends, we only assume that you have recruited others to do you dirty work." She told her watching as Ginny smiled and laughed again.

"Well, whoever is responsible, they have pulled off the most successful campaign of pranks on the Slytherins ever. Even the Marauders and my twin brothers couldn't have orchestrated such a plot." Ginny told her as they approached the gargoyle guarding Dumbledore's office.

"Yes, they will definitely be mentioned in Hogwarts a History," McGonagall said laughing alone with her student. "You should have seen Professor Snape's face when he saw the state of the common room. As long as I've know him I've never seen him that expressive with his face, it was priceless. You must thank whoever was responsible for me." She laughed again as they entered the office to call the twins.

The twins knew that the professors could easily remove the swamp and were amused that they were making Snape try it on his own. They were escorted down to the dungeons by McGonagall and the Headmaster. Ginny tagged along so she could see their handiwork and the looks on the Slytherins' faces. Snape looked livid and rounded on the twins the moment they were in the room. "Fix it before I fix you," He growled at them. Seeing Snape's face was the icing on the cake and the perfect end for the prank war they had raged. It was obvious that they had won the pride of the Slytherins. They were all pouting and a few of the younger girls were crying.

"Looks like someone did a great job with our swamps," Fred said smiling.

"Just get rid of it Weasley," Draco drawled from the other side of the room.

"Patience Malfoy," George added. "We wouldn't want to make a mistake and have this be a permanent fixture here in your common room." That received a gasp from all the girls who were told to all go up to their rooms to stay out of the way.

"I would have though a powerful wizard like you would have been able to handle a little thing like a swamp with no problems," Fred said to Snape with a grin.

"Whoever did this should be proud. They achieved something both we and the Marauders were unable to do." George added.

"And what is that exactly?" Dumbledore asked as his eyes twinkled madly.

"They broke the Slytherins." Fred said mater of factly.

"Excuse me?" Snape said bristling at the implications.

"I have heard that the Slytherins have stopped being rude and nasty to he other houses due to the fact that they didn't want the pranks to continue. Now that they realize the pranksters can get to their brooms and their common room, not to mention into their dorm rooms, it's obvious that they no longer are the power of terror in the castle." George said as Fred and Ginny giggled.

"Will you just remove the swamp," Snape said recognizing defeat. "And stop selling products to terrorize my students!"

"We don't SELL anything to terrorize your students with," Fred said stressing the word sell, "But we'll get this swamps out of here in a jiffy." The twins both said a nonsense word each and snapped their fingers and the swamps closed themselves up into their original boxes.

"Here you go professor," George said handing one box to Dumbledore and the other to Snape. "It was lovely being here but we have some products to get back to testing." With that the twins left the school laughing the entire way out at the look on Snape's face.

Ginny related the entire story back to everyone in the common room. "We won!" Ron said doing a victory dance with the Creevy brothers.

"The Slytherins will think twice before sabotaging our potions or tormenting us in the hallways now." Neville said smiling.

"And Pansy got what was coming to her!" Ginny added.

"That was a smart thing about having the twins cast the invisibility charm Harry," Hermione told him. "They checked every wand in the castle and came up empty. They even checked the Slytherins wands to make sure it wasn't an inside job!"

"Snape is going to be in a bad mood for the rest of the week. He doesn't like being shown up." Harry told them all. "We all need to be on best behavior in class and have our homework done on time."

"His face was great!" Ginny giggled.

The next morning at breakfast another fake howler was delivered to Draco. He opened it to find a note from the pranksters:

Dear Slytherin Prince,

This is to inform you that we have ceased hostile pranks against your house. We continue to expect fair treatment of the other houses on the part of your housemates or we will resume our prank war against your house. Remember that we know where you sleep, eat, wash, do homework, store your brooms and all other things and can get to them easily.

Regards,

EDA

Draco took the letter up to the staff table and handed it to Snape who looked it over with a sneer and gave it to Dumbledore. The headmaster stood and announced the end of the pranks against the Slytherins and reminded everyone that the dueling tournament would start with the inner house tournaments that weekend.

Chapter 31: Inner House Dueling

"Aren't you excited about the tournament Neville?" Ginny asked him on Friday as they were reviewing all their hexes, jinxs and spells they might need for the duels.

"I'm nervous. You know that Harry and Hermione both made big bets that I would win. What if I freeze up and end up loosing them that money?" He asked her miserably.

"Don't worry about it Nev. Harry and Hermione believe in you, that won't change if something happens and you loose. Don't worry about the money either; Harry has more than he could ever spend." Ginny told him as they polished their wands. "I'm just glad I won't have to duel you until the finals!"

The common room was a mad house with students reciting spells and looking up better jinx and hexes. Harry was being bombarded by questions for help with their spells. He finally had to tell them that he wanted everyone to win so it wouldn't be fair if he only helped a select few. He went up to his room to practice wand less magic away from prying eyes.

Professor McGonagall entered the common room the next morning with Remus and Tonks who were helping her with the Gryffindor tournament. "All right everyone. I expect fair play from all of you. The first person to gain control of the other person's wand is the winner and will move on to the next round." She told them as Remus posted a list of the first pairings.

Lavender and Pavarti were upset about having to duel each other. "We've been friends since first year, how can I hex her?" Lavender asked scandalized.

"It's easy," Hermione smirked. "You just point your wand at her and say the magic words." She hated how the two girls always made everything so difficult. Harry tried not to laugh at the look of surprise on the two girls faces when Hermione made a sarcastic comment. She was not well known for her dry humor and most thought of her as a know-it-all book worm and never looked past the surface.

Pavarti ended up winning against Lavender but it didn't matter as Hermione beat both of them without any real hassle and was named the Gryffindor 6th year Girl Champion. She smiled and went over to sit with Harry on the sofa to watch the rest of the girls' tournaments. The boys would start after lunch. Ginny ended up victorious and was the 5th year Girl Champion.

"Way to go Gin, I knew you could do it," Harry told her enveloping her in his arms and kissing her forehead since there were Professors around. "You'll have no trouble becoming the 5th year Girls Champion for the school."

"Thanks Harry," She said as they made their way down to lunch. "I'm more worried about becoming the Hogwarts Girl Champion. Hermione is going to be tough to beat and I know she's going to take the 6th year tournament. Then theirs the Ravenclaw Head Girl to take on as well."

"I predict there will be a DA winner hands down." Lavender said as she walked behind them. "Professor Trelawney even hinted that she had seen it in the orb." She ran off with Pavarti to discuss the brilliance of their favorite professor before anyone could make any rude comment on their thoughts of divination.

"What do you see for the outcome of the tournament?" Ron asked Ginny. He would believe Ginny's gut feeling over any full blown Trelawney prophesy any day.

"I just know that it will be Hermione, the Head Girl and myself that will have to fight for the Girl Champion and that the best duel will be between the Prince and the Frog." She giggled and ran off ahead of them before they could ask what she meant.

"Why does she do that?" Ron asked sighing. "She never gives me enough info to figure out what she is talking about."

"Oh Ron, she told you exactly who it was just use your brain." Hermione said shaking her head. When she realized he was still clueless she told him. "It's going to be between Draco and Neville."

"Well duh, I already knew theirs was going to be an awesome fight!" Ron laughed. "Why didn't she just tell me in the first place?"

"Only one 6th year boy makes it into the next tournament Ron. She's your sister and didn't want you upset that you were going to loose." Harry told him with a shrug.

"I just want to beat Dean and Seamus to show that I'm not a total looser when it comes to dueling!" Ron said sadly.

"I'm sure you won't have a problem," Hermione said giving him a big hug before they sat down to eat. The other houses were all wrapped up in their tournaments as well.

Professor Dumbledore stood up to announce the Girl Champions for each year from each house and had them stand and be recognized. Ginny jumped to her feat and sent nasty glares at the Slytherin table who all looked frightened at going up against her. Hermione shyly stood, she didn't like having so many people looking at her but she too sent a glare at the Slytherins who were realizing their hopes for winning the tournament were slim even with Potter out of the running.

Pansy had been named the Slytherin 6th year winner and Hermione planned on spending the entire next day in the library or the room of requirement finding the perfect hexes and jinxes just for their least favorite Slytherin. She was so absorbed in thoughts of how to torture Pansy that the boys had to nudge her and remind her to eat before the boys' tournament started.

Harry tried to hide his disappointment at not being able to participate in the tournament. He knew it was for the best that Voldemort thought him weak and he would much rather not participate than have to pretend to loose to Malfoy again. He liked the thought that everyone thought Malfoy had beaten him, but yet he was still undefeated!

Neville was in rare form for the tournament. Some of the younger years were commenting on how changed he looked when he was pointing his wand at an opponent. He easily took out Dean, Seamus and Ron. Dean and Seamus had stood dazed and confused by this change in Neville. When he was dueling he exuded confidence and everyone could see the power he possessed and was surprised by it. He was going to be a dangerous opponent for the death eaters in the war.

"He looks so handsome when he's dueling," a 4th year had commented. Hermione and Ginny had to stifle their giggles as they imagined Neville trying to ask a girl out!

Ron beat both Dean and Seamus and was congratulated by Harry and Ginny before Hermione hugged him. "I knew you would well!" Hermione smiled at him. Ron blushed at the compliment and the public affection. Although they had been a couple since the summer most of the school was oblivious to their relationship since Hermione was so opposed to showing their affection in public. The most they ever did was hold hands at dinner or occasionally in the halls while on prefect duty and the halls were deserted. She very rarely hugged him; it was saved for special occasions.

"That should shut Dean and Seamus up for a few days. Maybe they'll pay more attention during DA now!" Ginny commented. The two boys had been doing more flirting than practicing during DA secessions lately. "Come on, Colin is about to duel." She said turning her attention back to the tournament.

That night at dinner the boy's winners were announced. No one was surprised when the Slytherin 6th year champion was announced to be Malfoy, but there was an almost astounded silence when the Gryffindor winner was announced as Neville Longbottom. Draco saw that as an opportunity to prove his "Slytherin Spirit" and yelled across the great hall, "What happened did Longbottom stuttering and fumbling curses scare you in to surrendering Weasley? Or are you all helpless without Potter and the know-it-all giving out directions?"

Ron knew he was just putting on a show but it still irritated him so he spouted back, "At least we had some real competition for our champion ferret. Our first years could out duel those two lumps you call your sidekicks." Everyone in the hall was waiting for the next comment to be tossed and wondering if there would be another fight, this time with Ron instead of Harry.

Professor Dumbledore stood again and cleared his throat, effectively ending the mock fight between the two boys. "The next round will take place tomorrow after breakfast. We will be setting up dueling stages here in the great hall. All champions will meet here at the staff table after breakfast. The tournament will begin at 9:30 am. We will try and finish the girls' tournament in the morning and will plan on starting the boys' tournament after lunch."

The members of the Elite DA, or the EDA as they were now calling themselves, all seemed to have the same idea and had all shown up in the Room of Requirement to look up more hexes or practice spells for the tournament the next day. The Creevy brothers both had won their years as well as Luna, Justin and Hannah. In fact the only EDA members that were no longer in the tournament were Ron and Harry who were both helping Hermione look up painful jinx for Pansy. Even Draco abandoned his own practice to look up ways to hurt Pansy.

"What about this one?" Draco asked holding the book so the other three could see. "It's supposed to reverse any glamour or concealment charms."

"What good would that do?" Harry asked confused. Pansy was ugly as it was.

"She uses multiple glamours every day and I know she's had magical enhancements to parts of her body. This spell reverses those too." He told them.

"That sounds promising," Hermione said with an evil smirk worthy of the blonde sitting next to her. "The best way to get at her is by embarrassing her. I plan on drawing the duel out for a while just to throw as many painful and embarrassing hexes at her as I can. It should be not problem shielding myself from any of her pathetic attempts at cursing me back."

"Are you sure?" Ron asked concerned. "She did manage to beat Gabrielle."

"No she didn't," Draco butt in. "Gabrielle didn't fight. There was an argument last night in the common room about what year she should fight for. She got fed up and told them they she wasn't going to participate. She told me later that she didn't want to have to duel Pansy because she didn't want to get expelled. She's not sure she could keep herself from accidentally tossing her head first into the dungeon wall."

They all laughed at that idea. "You wouldn't be able to tell the difference in her face even if she did." Hermione added giggling.

"Oh!" Harry said excited as he jumped from the couch he was sitting on. "I found it!" He grinned evilly at Malfoy for a second before turning back to his book. "I've been looking for this spell for years!" He placed the book down on the table and almost bounced over to Draco. "Care for a friendly duel Malfoy?"

The two stood with wands ready waiting Hermione's signal. Draco was slightly concerned with the twinkle in Harry's eyes. It looked way too much like Dumbledore's when he was up to something entirely unpleasant. Hermione gave the signal and before Draco could do anything Harry yelled "Facetus Anima" and with a pop Draco was turned into a pure white ferret just like in fourth year. Everyone in the room doubled over in laughter. Even if they were friends with him now it was still funny to see him looking spooked around the room at them all.

Once they had all calmed down enough Ginny mumbled "Finite Incantatem" and Draco was back in his own body with a death glare trained on them all. Before he could open his mouth Harry said, "I'm sorry Draco; it's just that ever since the fake Moody turned you into that ferret we've been trying to figure out how he did it. I just couldn't help myself."

"Yeah, don't be mad." Ron said still chuckling. "The first time that happened was the best moment of my career of hating you."

"Is that so Weasley?" Draco said with a dangerous glint in his eye that the rest saw and baked away from the enraged Slytherin.

"Yeah, when things would start to look bad I would just pull up the memory of the 'Amazing Bouncing Ferret' and I would laugh and feel lighter hearted." Ron told him not realizing that his explanation was pissing Malfoy off even more.

"I have two words for you then Weasel," Draco said smirking his hmost evil smirk, "Facetus Anima." With a pop there was a brown weasel sitting on the floor with a mop of red hair. Ginny burst out laughing at her brother and had to hold on to Harry to keep from falling to the floor she was laughing so hard. Hermione was wiping tears out of her eyes as she shook with silent laughter, trying her hardest not to laugh at her boyfriend the red headed weasel. Draco smirked and leaned down to look at Ron. "It's a good look for you Weasley," he told him with a small chuckle before walking out of the room to go back to the Slytherin common room.

Everyone was still chuckling at Ron when he got upset and went over and bit Harry on the leg to get his attention so he would turn him back. "Oi, watch it Ron or we might have to take you to Hagrid, I'm sure he knows how to care for you in your new body!" They started laughing again but Hermione muttered the counter charm and turned him back to normal.

"Thatâ Thatâ That git turned me into a weasel!" He sputtered as everyone tried not to laugh again. "What is so funny?"

"Well he always calls you weasel and you always call him ferret, so it is only fitting," Ginny said not sure if they should tell him that he still had red hair as a weasel.

Colin had managed to take a picture of both Draco and Ron while they were changed and printed them and sent them to the other at breakfast. Ron was admiring the albino qualities of ferret boy when a low chuckle interrupted his musing. The whole hall turned to the staff table to see Professor Snape chuckling. Everyone stopped eating to witness the never seen before sight. Snape was looking at what appeared to be a photograph. Ron paled thinking 'no he couldn't have gotten a photo of me as a weasel, Colin wouldn't do that to me.'

Snape rose and walked to the Slytherin table and handed the photo back to Draco. "Thank you Mr. Malfoy and 10 points to Slytherin for such amusing breakfast entertainment." He then headed back down to the dungeon before the start of the tournament.

"May I ask Mr. Malfoy what has so amused out dear Potions Master?" Dumbledore asked from the head table. "Is it something you would care to share with the rest of us?"

"Of course Professor Dumbledore sir," Draco said waving his wand and making identical photos appear in front of everyone in the great hall. Ron wanted to crawl under the table and die. The photo was one of him turning into the weasel, red hair and all, and then back into him. The moving wizard photo showed his utter humiliation over and over again. The Great Hall broke out into gales of laughter and the students all tried their best to get a look at Ron.

"That was the most humiliating experience of my life!" Ron sighed as he walked with Harry back to the dorm. The girls were in the great hall getting instructions for the tournament.

"Think on the positive side," Harry said to his friend. "You did something none of your family has ever been able to do." When Ron gave him a look he continued. "You made Snape laugh! Snape the most feared professor who hates jokes and has never cracked a smile in front of studentsâ you made him laugh! You accomplished more than Fred and George was ever capable of!"

At that Ron finally stopped looking like he wanted to jump of the astronomy tower. "That was always one of their goals and they never did it." Ron said absently thinking over the facts. "I guess it could have been worse. I just turned into a weasel and back into me. When Moody got Malfoy he bounced him around the hall that is way more embarrassing!" The two friends laughed and climbed through the portrait hole.

Chapter 32: Dueling Tourney

"Did you have to hand out the photo to everyone?" Ginny asked Draco annoyed as they waited for the teachers to finish setting up the great hall. "Even though it was funny, he is my brother."

"Sorry Red, but I couldn't help myself. Even Snape laughed, that's got to count for something." Draco told her with his most charming smile. "He may be your brother but we've hated each other forever."

Ginny was about to remind him that they didn't hate each other anymore when she was interrupted by Pansy's annoying voice. "You should stop wasting your breath on trash like her Draco. I can't believe you would apologize to a muggle-lover like her. Her whole family is a bunch of animals, now we just have the proof."

Before either one of them could say anything back to Pansy the Head Girl had walked over. "Detention tonight with Mr. Filtch for such disrespect to another student, not to mention a prefect and another detention tomorrow night with Mr. Filtch for such blasphemy against the minister of magic and his family. You should be lucky that I can't take house points and that none of the teachers were around to hear you. Now scamper off before I loose my temper in our duel and make you go bald permanently!" She then nodded at Ginny and Draco and went back to helping with the set-up of the great hall.

"Wow!" Ginny finally said and smiled at Draco before they went back to their own friends. Ginny was still not used to people defending her family and showing so much respect. She hadn't gotten used to the fact that her father was the minister of magic, she still thought of them as the loveable poor family, not the powerful family they had become.

There was a large dueling stage set up in the middle of the hall and bleachers had been placed on either side so that everyone could see clearly. The participants were told that they could not leave the dueling platform. If they were knocked off the platform the duel would be halted until the student was back on. Charms were erected around the platform to absorb any spells that missed their target so the audience would not be hit with rouge spells. There would be 6 duels for each year since it was a round-robin tournament. The girl with the most wins would be the champion.

Ginny's first duel was against Hufflepuff. She smiled and bowed at the other girl. Professor Dumbledore gave the signal and Ginny just smiled at the girl letting her at least try to get off one shot. The girl tried to send a tripping hex at her; Ginny blocked it expertly and sent the same spell at the other girl immediately followed by the disarming spell. She had gotten very skilled at quick castings. She was able to cast the next spell even before the first had reached its target. Hermione had read in a book that that was a rare gift and also showed how well matched Gin was to her wand. The girl's wand flew effortlessly into her hand and Ginny caught it with a smile.

Luna was next and she was paired against the 5th year Slytherin champion. She easily disarmed the other girl. In the end it came down to the duel between Ginny and Luna as they had expected. They smiled and shook hands. This was going to be fun. They shot hexes back and forth for about 5 minutes. The entire hall was silent since this was the first duel of the day that had been interesting at all. The others were quick and it had been easy to tell who would win. The odds were 2 to 1 in Ginny's favor due to her dating Harry Potter but Luna could never be ruled out entirely.

Ginny finally was able to hit Luna with her famous bat boggey hex and gained control of her wand. Even though Ginny won the duel, Luna had won respect in the eyes of her classmates, since she had always been thought of as strange so they stayed away from her. They all knew she had become friends with the Potter gang as they were sometimes referred to (Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Neville) and they realized now that maybe she was worthy of their house.

The 6th year duels were next. Hermione was going over her notes for the duel against Pansy. She didn't really care about the other duels as long as she won but she was determined to bring Pansy down a peg or two before she took her wand. Hermione had to duel the Ravenclaw champion first and wasted no time in disarming her, the girl didn't eve n have time to start a spell of her won before Hermione had her wand. Her next duel was against Hannah Abbot of Hufflepuff. They were both in EDA so it was shaping up to be a good duel.

Hannah was actually favored in the betting pools since most people had never seen Hermione duel and thought she just hid behind her friendship with Harry and Ron. They smiled at each other and waited for Dumbledore's signal. Harry and the rest of EDA were telling everyone to shut up and get ready for a good fight. The hall went silent at Harry's command and watched the two girls duel. Hermione made sure she put up a powerful protective shield first before sending off any hexes at Hannah. The two spent 5 minutes tossing hexes at the other's shield to try and break it down. Hermione's was stronger as she started to get a few spells though Hannah's shield. She finally was able to hit her with a weak stunner spell was able to summon her wand. She went over and revived her before handing her back her wand and the two girls hugged each other and went back to the side to wait for their next duels.

The crowd was still speechless from watching the two girls fight. They had known that both girls had been made prefects but they thought it was due to their good grades. No one had expected the know-it-all Gryffindor bookworm to be such an accomplished duelist. Gabrielle turned to Draco and said, "Now I'm glad that I didn't decide to participate, both of them would wipe the floor with me! Do you think they could show me how to fight like that?"

"I'll ask Potter later, he's in charge of their little training group. Just don't say anything to anyone about it. If word got out among the Slytherins there could be a lot of trouble." Draco told her.

"So if you know about it I'm assuming you're a part of it then?" She whispered in his ear. Their entire conversation looked like they were just whispering sweet nothings in each other's ear.

"Of course, you don't think I'd let him have all the fun?" he smiled at her and they got ready to watch the duel between Hannah and the Ravenclaw champion. Hannah won in less than 30 seconds and it was time for Hermione to fight Pansy.

The Slytherins were all anxious to see Pansy 'wipe the floor' with the Gryffindor muggle born and the other 3 houses were waiting to see Pansy get what was coming to her. "You might as well just give up now mudblood, you're not going to be able to beat me!" Pansy sung out to Hermione.

She just turned to stare down the pug-faced Slytherin. "I don't plan on beating you Pansy," Hermione started with a fake smile. "I plan on utterly humiliating you and then taking that smirk off your face. You might have thought those pranks were bad, but haven't even imagined what I'm capable of doing to your reputation."

"I feel a little wager is in order!" Hannah said getting between the two girls so Pansy couldn't start the duel before they were supposed to.

"What a good idea!" Pansy said in her shrill voice. "What do you say mudblood, how about 20 galleons to the winner and the looser has to announce tonight at dinner that the winner is the prettiest girl in the school and they admire and respect them."

"And if I win you also have to say that you think muggle-borns are the equals of purebloods," Hermione added before the two shook hands in the binding wizards bet.

The two rivals climbed upon the stage to begin their duel. Hermione smirked to herself, "Time for operation humiliation!" Dumbledore gave the signal and Hermione put up her shield again and started firing hexes at Pansy. Her first hex was the one Draco had found to reverse any glamours and concealment charms. When it hit Pansy didn't feel anything and figured that whatever it was hadn't worked, but it had. Pansy now had very ugly dirty blonde hair that was stringy and limp as well as a gigantic nose that took up way to much of her now acne covered face. In fact without her glamours she made Eloise Midgen look positively gorgeous. The other thing all the guys noticed was how her once large breasts were now almost non-existent and her butt was much larger.

Hermione chuckled to herself and then hit her with a jinx she came up with on her own. She called it her Michael Jackson hex since it made the person dance like the American singer. Pansy couldn't stop herself from doing the moonwalk and grabbing her crotch and spinning around. Everyone was laughing, especially the muggle-borns who knew who she was dancing like. Professor Sprout turned to McGonagall and whispered, "I have a feeling that Miss Granger is going for more than a win in this one. She could have taken Miss Parkenson's wand a long time ago."

"Yes, I believe that our normally reserved Miss Granger is taking a little payback for all those years of ridicule," McGonagall said with a smirk. She was entirely enjoying the show her favorite student was putting on. "It's a good thing that Albus didn't put any rules in effect to prevent this, it should prove to be quite entertaining!" The two teachers chuckled to themselves as they watched the duel.

Hermione had made Pansy bark like a dog, hanged her hair color to red and gold stripped, made purple hair grow out of her ears and her to grow a beard that looked just like Dumbledore's. The entire crowd was laughing, even the Slytherins. Finally Harry yelled out, "Just finish her off Hermione!" They were starting to get bored even if it was funny watching Pansy get upset and throw every hex and jinx she knew at Hermione without any effect.

Hermione decided that she was ready for her final hex. She had the Head Girl to thank for this one and sent the hex at Pansy that would make all her hair fall off her head. It was a semi-permanent hex that wouldn't allow hair to grow back for at least a month! Pansy shrieked as she watched all her hair fall to the platform. Hermione then yelled out the disarming curse and Pansy's wand flew to her hand and she was named the 6th year champion and the entire school knew not to mess with her ever again.

Pansy ran off to Madame Pomfrey to get all her hexes reversed. She shrieked and started crying when she realized that all her glamours, concealments and enhancements had been taken off. The medi-witch couldn't do anything about that and actually scolded her for using them in the first place. Turns out that Pansy's mother had taught her the glamours at an early age and put them on her ugly daughter herself since she was a child. Purebloods don't want children that ugly. Pansy actually started to cry when she was told her hair couldn't grow back with a spell or potion she would just have to wait until the hex wore off.

Hermione was congratulated by most of the students in the stands as they waited for the 7th year tournament to start. When Pansy walked by on her way to the Slytherin section of the stands Hermione called out, "Don't forget about our wager Pansy! I expect payment in full by the end of the day and I look forward to your speech at dinner!"

"You're not getting anything from me mudblood. You didn't think I was actually serious about that bet did you?" She asked trying to sound like she wasn't scared out of her mind.

"Too bad Pansy, we shook on it so it's a wizards bet and you can't back out of it. You wouldn't want everyone to know that your word was worth nothing would you." Hermione asked sweetly as those around her laughed.

Pansy ran over to Professor Snape her head of house to complain about the bet she had made with Hermione. "You will honor the terms of the bet. I will not have any dishonor befall Slytherin," Her roared at her. "You shouldn't have been stupid enough to make a wager like that. Granger has the highest grades this school has ever seen; you didn't honestly think she earned all those without being able to do all the spells did you? She is second only to Potter in DADA and is top in charms you stupid girl. You barely passed DADA and are abysmal in charms you should have expected what happened!" Snape was irate that she had embarrassed his house so much and was not trying to dishonor it as well. "If you do not follow through with the terms of the wager I will be forced to give you detention and strip you of your prefect status."

"Did Snape just kind of compliment you?" Ginny asked her friend.

"I'm not sure, but it definitely wasn't one of his typical insults." Hermione said going over what Snape had said in her head again. She had been waiting years for some sort of acknowledgement of her knowledge and skills from him and had given up hope of ever getting it.

"He told her she shouldn't have expected to win against you! That has to be an almost compliment coming from the overgrown bat!" Ginny giggled and the two went to sit down. The 7th year tournament was won by the Head Girl. The winners were asked to stay after to get the rules for the next leg of the tournament. Hermione went up to the head girl and thanked her for the idea of making Pansy bald. The two laughed at that.

At lunch Pansy came over and gave Hermione her 20 galleons and ran off when the Gryffindor started laughing at her. She had owled her parents right after the tournament to let them know what the mudblood had done to her and asked for help in how to reapply the glamours. Whatever spell Hermione had used didn't allow the glamours and concealments to be reapplied and her magical enhancements had all been reversed as well. She had been the laughing stock of the Slytherin common room when they got back from the tournament.

Draco had laughed and told her he was happy he wouldn't be forced to marry such an unworthy person. "I deserve the best and you most definitely are not the best." Her had commented with Gabrielle hanging off his arm and smirking at her house rival. Gabrielle knew she wouldn't have to worry about Pansy anymore; she had officially taken her place as the 'head girl' of Slytherin since she was both the prettiest and was betrothed to Draco.

The boys' tournament was scheduled for after lunch and they were all discussing who was gong to beat who. The Gryffindors were all smirking at how the other 3 houses were giving them 20 to 1 odds on the Neville/Draco duel and 10 to 1 on Neville's other fights. The members of the DA were going to make a lot of money off this tournament!

Dumbledore stood up at lunch and told them he had a special surprise for them. They had two exhibition duels for them to watch. Professors Lupin and Snape were going to duel as well as Professors Tonks and McGonagall. The students all cheered and settled into the stands to watch the fights. Tonks and McGonagall were first. Tonks was an auror and therefore she was favored 3 to1 over the strict transfiguration professor. It was a good duel. McGonagall used her transfiguration skills to try and distract Tonks enough to make contact with a spell. Tonks shot a powerful stunning spell at her that McGonagall had to dodge by turning into her anamagi form. Tonks was able to hit the cat form of McGonagall with an impedimenta jinx to slow her down and by the time she was able to return to her human form Tonks hit her with the disarming spell. The entire student body cheered for their two professors. They were all very impressed with the way they had fought but were anxious to see Snape and Lupin duel.

Harry went up and gave his adoptive father a hug before the duel. "You'll do great! Just don't hold back because you know he won't! He'll use this to try and say you don't deserve your job!" Harry told Remus.

"Severus is a very good opponent. I'll try my best against him, but he knows his stuff." Remus told his son. He knew that he would be lucky to win against Snape but he was excited to try. He didn't get to duel in a safe setting like this very often. They usually had to fight for real so this was a welcome relief.

Remus and Snape bowed and readied themselves for Dumbledore's command. The duel lasted almost a half hour. The two were matched quite well. Snape's spells were quick but Remus could block very well. It was easy to tell who the aggressive fighter versus the defense instructor was. Snape was having trouble breaking through Lupin's defenses and Remus was almost too busy defending himself to cast any strong spells at Snape. Remus finally connected with a tripping jinx against Snape but Snape was able to get off a stunning spell before falling over. The stunned grazed Remus' arm and knocked his defenses down enough for Snape to cast the disarming spell while he was still sprawled on the platform. Remus was almost able to hang onto his wand but Severus was too powerful and the wand finally flew into his outstretched hand.

The students jumped to their feet applauding their teachers. They had never seen a better duel. It didn't matter to them that Snape had won; they were impressed with both of their professors. The two bowed to each other again and Snape handed back Lupin's wand. "Congratulations Severus that was fun." Remus said as they shook hands.

"You fight well," Snape said before going back to his place at the high table. Remus chuckled; a compliment from Snape was a rare occurrence. He realized that he may finally have earned some respect from the bitter Slytherin.

Tonks went up and gave Remus a big hug and they went up to the high table to watch the boys' tournament. The professors were all anxious for the re-match between Neville and Draco. They had fought well over the holidays at headquarters and the teachers knew they were well matched. Sprout and McGonagall even had a wager with Snape over which of the boys would win. "Whoever wins between them will easily be the boys' school champion. The 7th years just don't have the skills to beat either one of them," Tonks commented.

"The real fight will be for the girls' champion. I look forward to the duel between Miss Weasley and Miss Granger," Sprout added.

Both Dennis and Colin Creevy ended up the Champions of their years. The Gryffindor's were putting on a good showing in the tournament thanks to all their training in DA. Finally it was time for the 6th year duels. Draco was first against the Ravenclaw champion Terry Boot who was a prefect as well. The duel was fairly short. Terry was able to block Draco's first two hexes but wasn't able to withstand Draco's stunner and Malfoy easily won even though Terry was a DA member. Neville was up against Justin Finch-Fletchly, they were both in EDA. The student body was sure that Neville was a push over and therefore were not really paying attention to the duel between him and Justin at first.

The duel between the two of them started well. They would throw a hex and the other would block it and that went back and forth for about 5 times until Neville could see he had everyone's attention and he turned his game on. He threw a body bind hex followed by a stunner followed by the disarming hex off in rapid succession. Justin barely was able to block the body bind and didn't have any chance to block the stunner and was quickly disarmed. The students were all shocked at how fast Neville won. The Gryffindor's were the only ones who were cheering; they had all made quite a bit of cash off that last duel.

Draco took out Justin fairly fast as well. He went out with the big guns from the start and disarmed him in about a minute. Neville took out Terry Boot with his first two spells. He shot the body bind at him immediately and while Terry was blocking that Neville sent the disarming spell at him and won the duel. There was a hush across the students as Neville and Draco walked up onto the stage.

Draco and Neville started off throwing big hexes at each other. The students just watched in awe as they blocked curses that could take down fully qualified wizards. The duel lasted for almost an hour. The students were on the edges of their seats waiting to see who would finally connect with a blow enough to disarm the other. The duel was intense with neither boy backing down and giving it everything they had. They were starting to tire out but neither was willing to give up. For Neville this was his opportunity to show the school that he was better than what they all thought and for Draco he had to win to keep his reputation within the school. In the end it came down to the bat boggey hex that Neville threw at Malfoy. Ginny had taught it to him just last night in the room of requirement. It distracted Draco enough for Neville to connect with the disarming spell and win his wand. The crowds went wild! Draco Malfoy had lost to none other than Neville Longbottom in an intense duel.

Dumbledore stood up and quieted the crowd. "That was the best duel this school has seen in many years. I award 25 point to both Gryffindor and Slytherin for such a well fought duel. Congratulations to both Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Longbottom." The hall applauded for them again and Harry and Hermione ran up to Neville.

"I knew you could do it Nev!" Harry said patting his friend on the back.

"I never doubted you Neville!" Hermione said hugging him and giving him a kiss on the cheek. Neville smiled and blushed at the faith his friends had in him and was glad he could pull out the victory for them.

"Well I didn't want you to loose all that money you won from Pansy!" He joked and they all settled down to watch the 7th year tournament.

Draco went back to the Slytherins with his head down. He knew that Neville would be hard to beat he had just hoped for his sake that he would have won. Gabrielle ran up to him and jumped into his arms. "You did great Draco, that was an amazing duel," she told him as she kissed his cheek. Crabbe and Goyle took up their positions on either side of him and glared at anyone who looked at Malfoy. The Slytherin house was subdued. They had just watched their leader go down to a Gryffindor and not just any one, the one that most thought of as a glorified squib.

The hall became silent as Professor Snape walked over to Neville. Most of the school knew how scared Neville was of Snape. "Congratulations Mr. Longbottom that was an admirable performance." Snape told him before continuing over to his Slytherins.

Ron patted Neville on the back. "You got Snape to compliment you! He even almost complimented 'Moine today. Hell must be about ready to freeze over." Ron joked to the rest of the group.

Professor Dumbledore called all the champions over to him. "We will be inviting all your parents to attend the final tournament next weekend. You may owl them as well. Those of you with Muggle parents will have to choose a professor to floo to their residence and accompany them here. We will have you houses connected to the floo network for the weekend and they are welcome to stay for the entire weekend." Hermione was excited that her parents were finally going to be able to see Hogwarts after all these years. Her father has wanted to visit since she went home for Christmas in first year and told him all about the moving portraits and the enchanted ceiling in the great hall.

"Next weekend will be fun!" Ginny said as they made their way up to Gryffindor tower. "Dumbledore said we could invite the whole family so hopefully everyone will come, even Bill and Charlie. And with Neville's and Hermione's parents it'll be a big party!"

"I'll talk with Remus and see if they can all be put up by each other and maybe we can convert an unused classroom into a lounge for all of us to hang out in." Harry said.

"Come on Ginny we need to get to the library and start getting ready for next weekend!" Hermione said dragging both Ginny and Neville off with her in her rush. Everyone else laughed and headed into the portrait hole.

Chapter 33: Hogwarts Dueling Champion

The next week went by too fast for those participating in the tournament. They were practicing at all available times and trying to get their homework done at the dame time. Even Hermione was feeling the pressure she had turned in two homework assignments with only the required length nothing extra!

Draco was in a foul mood on Thursday morning when he sat down at the table. Gabrielle hurried over to him, "What's the matter Draco?" He didn't respond but just shoved a parchment bearing the Malfoy crest at her to read.

Draco,

We were highly disappointed to hear of your abysmal performance in the dueling tournament. With Potter out of the competition you should have easily won. There is no excuse for being beaten by that pathetic Longbottom boy. You father will hear of this! This news has also reached your father's acquaintances and they are highly displeased. Be prepared to explain yourself. This better not have anything to do with that Weasley girl or there will be nothing I can do to save you. Remember where your loyalties lie. I would suggest working harder; your failure will not be accepted next time.

Mother

Gabrielle was shocked at the letter and didn't know what to say to Draco. Instead of saying anything she turned to him and wrapped her arms around him and gave off some of her charms to soothe him. He in turn buried his face in her hair and tried to forget the predicament he was now in.

The Gryffindor members of EDA were watching Draco closely as well and could tell that something was wrong. Hermione approached Gabrielle before class and asked her what was wrong. When Gabrielle finished telling her what the letter said Hermione was floored and worried for their Slytherin friend. "He should go to Professor Snape and show him the letter. At least the faculty will know what's going on and can be on extra alert." Hermione suggested. "Tell him we are all there for him if he needs anything."

Hermione filled in all the others with what was going on with Draco. Harry got upset and went off on a rant about Death Eaters and Voldemort and Ginny started crying and mumbling how it was her fault for befriending him and if he gets hurt she'll be the one to blame. Ron just kept looking from his best mate to his sister and couldn't decide what to think.

Draco showed the letter to Snape later that day and was taken to Dumbledore's office to speak with the headmaster. "I'm afraid they are starting to suspect my disloyalty." Draco told him. "First it was befriending Ginny and now loosing to Longbottom. They think I've gone soft and if I don't prove myself again soon they will most likely kill me."

"We'll place extra protection around you. Tell Crabbe and Goyle know there have been threats against you from the Gryffindors and they will keep close to you as well." Snape said worried about his favorite student.

"My mother is going to inform my father. I'm afraid of what he will do. Even though he is in Azkaban he is still powerful." Draco commented. "He will be even more unreasonable after all that time with the Dementors even though they don't guard the Death Eaters as closely as the rest since many of the Dementors are on the dark side."

"Just be careful Mr. Malfoy. When we get closer to the end of the year we will decide the best way to keep you safe so you don't have to take the mark this summer." Dumbledore told him.

The next night (Friday) all the parents of the champions were scheduled to arrive. Professor McGonagall came up to Hermione after breakfast. "Miss Granger, since there are so many Gryffindor champions I will not be able to pick up your parents. Another professor will have to be sent to pick them up." She told her.

"That's ok professor," Hermione said. "Who else is available?"

"I believe that Professor Dumbledore wants an order member to pick up your parents and the only one available is Professor Snape. If you hurry you can most likely catch him in his office before classes start." McGonagall said a Hermione took off for the dungeons. She didn't care who was sent to get her parents as long as she got to see them!

She knocked on Snape's office door and entered when ordered. "What can I do for you Miss Granger?" He asked with his usual sneer.

"Professor McGonagall is unable to pick my parents up this evening. Could you please take her place and retrieve them sir?" Hermione asked him with a small smile.

"And how did I end up bestowed with this honor?" He drawled sarcastically.

"Professor McGonagall said that the other order members were busy and that you were available. I am guessing that is because your champions parents are wizards and do not need an escort sir." She said trying to be nice and not piss him off as she usually does.

"Fine Miss Granger I will pick up your parents. You can meet us in the great hall directly after classes. The fireplace there has been hooked to the floo network and is the one the parents will be using for arrival." He told her as he turned back to grading papers.

"Thank you sir," She said as she hurried out of his office before he could change his mind.

Hermione, Harry, Ginny, Ron, Neville, Gabrielle and Draco were all in the great hall awaiting the arrival of the Weasleys, Grangers and Longbottoms. The Longbottoms arrived first and it was nice to see Neville so happy. They went off for Neville to show them around the castle before dinner. The Weasley's started arriving after that. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley arrived first and gave everyone a hug, except Draco who only shook hands with Mr. Weasley in case anyone was watching. Bill and Fleur arrived next and Fleur swung Gabrielle up into her arms immediately. Harry remembered that Gabrielle was what Fleur would miss most during the tri-wizard tournament.

"Fleur this is Draco Malfoy, Draco this is my sister Fleur," Gabrielle said making introductions even though they had met at headquarters over the holidays. They had to go through the charade for the other students' sake.

Draco bowed and kissed Fleur's hand. "It is a pleasure to meet Gabrielle's sister and guardian." He said in typical Malfoy style.

"I have wanted to meet the boy my sister is betrothed to," Fleur said and it was easy to tell she was not pleased about the situation. "This is my boyfriend Bill Weasley." She said turning to Bill who also shook Draco's hand. Fleur went off with Gabrielle and Draco to visit the Slytherin common room and Bill stayed with the rest of his family that had all arrived, except for Percy who was still a git.

"We are so proud of you Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley said smiling at her only daughter.

"I know you'll win the whole thing!" George said to her.

"Don't forget about Hermione," She told them, "I'll be lucky if I get past her!"

"Don't say that! We have 10 galleons riding on this with Lee Jordan who thinks that our lovely Hermione will win." Fred told her as they all laughed.

The fireplace turned green again and Hermione's mum and dad stepped out followed by Professor Snape. "Hermione!" Her mum said and rushed to her daughter. Her father shook Snape's hand and thanked him for retrieving them.

"Yes, thank you sir," Hermione added before Snape hurried off to his dungeons.

"He is a very nice man Hermione. I don't remember you saying much about him. He said he's your potions professor and you always write how that is one of your favorite subjects but have never mentioned the teacher!" Her mother rattled on.

"Well, you always told me that if I didn't have anything nice to say then not to say anything at all." Hermione told her mother and everyone gathered laughed.

Hermione took her parents on a tour of the school while the Weasley's went to the Gryffindor common room. "What do you want to see first?" She asked her mum.

"I want to meet one of those house elves you keep talking about," Mrs. Granger said smiling at her daughter as they headed toward the kitchens. Mr. Granger kept getting sidetracked looking at the moving portraits and the suits of armor. Dobby came running up to Hermione with a smile wearing one of the hats she had knit last year. Her parents didn't know what exactly to think of Dobby but he was so eager to please that they couldn't help but like him by the time they moved on with the tour. She took them outside to visit Hagrid and the greenhouses before it got dark out. Her mum was very impressed with the magical plants and both her parents seemed fearful to walk to close to the forbidden forest when they were by Hagrid's after all the stories Hermione had told them. Her mum tried to pretend she wasn't terrified of Hagrid but she didn't hide it too well. That could have been because of the bone breaking hug that he gave her after finding out that they were Hermione's parents.

"She helps me all the time with me lessons and back during Beakey's trial. Such a good girl you got here." He told them which made her mum like the half-giant a little better.

"Hagrid had been one of my best friends since I got here and he is also the gamekeeper and Care of Magical Creatures professor." Hermione said making Hagrid blush at the praise. They headed back up to the castle after that.

"I want to see the dungeons where this Professor Snape of yours teaches," Her father told her and they made their way down toward the dungeons. Neither of her parents noticed her take out her wand in case there was trouble with the Slytherins. She need not have worried though as they met Professor Snape almost as soon as they descended into the lower levels.

"Miss Granger," He said giving her a questioning look at what she was doing alone with her parents in Slytherin territory.

"I was just giving my parents a tour of the castle sir and they wanted to see where you teach." Hermione said with a big smile at the shocked look on Snape's face.

"Hermione has always told us how much she enjoys making potions and since you seemed like such a nice teacher we wanted to see where your classroom was." Hermione's father added.

Snape not knowing what to do with the muggles motioned for them to follow him and he took them to his classroom and showed them the different tools needed for potions making. He kept looking oddly at Hermione to find out if she put her parents up to this.

"So is our Hermione a good student to teach?" Her mum asked as Hermione blushed and looked down at the floor.

Snape finally realized that Hermione had never said anything about him to her parents before and realized they didn't know he was the most hated professor in the school. "Yes, your daughter knows every answer and is never hesitant to showcase her vast intellect. She has never failed a potion in this class." He smirked at the shocked look on Hermione's face at another almost compliment. The comment seemed to satisfy her mother's curiosity.

"You rarely mention Professor Snape in your letters hun," Her father said giving her a questioning look. "I would guess he is one of your favorite professors since his is one of your favorite classes." Snape smirked and looked at her knowing she was going to have to put her parent straight on his teaching methods now.

"Professor Snape is a very efficient teacher," Hermione started choosing her words carefully. "He is very strict owing to the volatile nature of the substances we work with. He expects the best from everyone in his class at all times." She missed the shocked look on his face at her words since she was staring at her shoes while talking.

"It was wonderful to see you again Professor," Mr. Granger said shaking his hand as they headed to the office door.

"Have you shown your parents the DADA classroom yet Miss Granger?" Snape asked and when she shook her head he offered to escort them there which she was grateful for as they passed a few groups of Slytherins on the way.

"Thank you sir," Hermione said as she showed her parents into the DADA classroom. "We have two DADA professors, Professors Lupin and Tonks. Lupin is Harry's adoptive father and he is engaged to Tonks." Hermione said before she went and knocked on the office door to introduce her parents to her friends.

"Wotcher Hermione!" Tonks said as she came out to meet the Grangers. Hermione had to hold in a giggle at the wide eyes her mum got seeing a professor with hot pink hair. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Hermione is one of the best students in our class. She also helps run a defense club after school with Harry and Ron." Tonks said as Remus walked into the room.

"Ah, Severus said you were showing your parents our room Hermione so I rushed up here to meet them." Remus said introducing himself to her parents.

"It was very good of you to adopt Harry," Her mum told him. "Hermione was always so worried about him staying with those awful relatives of his."

"I was best friends with Harry's father all through school and couldn't let him stay there any longer," Remus said as he showed the Dr. Grangers around the room. Tonks and Lupin joined them for the rest of the tour. Hermione was able to introduce her parents to Professors Flitwick and McGonagall as well. McGonagall went on an on about how Hermione was the best student she had had in years. Mrs. Granger even let slip that transfiguration was Hermione's favorite subject which made Minerva beam happiness and Hermione blush and look guiltily at Remus and Tonks who both chuckled.

They met up with the Weasley's in the Gryffindor common room. Her parents were impressed with her house and got to meet a lot of her friends who they hadn't met before like Neville and the Creevys. She took her mum up to her dorm and showed her around, they had already seen the prefect's bathroom and was impressed with the tub.

"No wonder you love this school so much," her mum commented as they made their way back down to the crowd. "I'd want to stay here as much as possible as well."

They all headed down to dinner and sat at the Gryffindor table. It was funny to see so many Weasley's at the table not to mention the other parents. Professor Snape kept sneaking glances at the Grangers. He wasn't used to being universally accepted like they had accepted him. "Worried that having muggles in the school will cause problems Severus?" McGonagall asked after the third time he looked over.

"No," He told her. "I was just trying to figure them out. Miss Granger's parents appear to like me and it seems she has never said anything bad about me to her family. I find that difficult to believe."

"Why should that surprise you? Hermione is always the one trying to get both Mr. Potter and Weasley to show you the respect you deserve as a teacher. That she hasn't mentioned you to her parents could just be that she didn't have anything good to write home about. She gets top marks in every class that she can tell her parents about. I would think she wouldn't like to write about how she never gets recognition in one of her favorite subjects." Minerva told him.

Snape looked at her funny. "How did you know potions was one of her favorite subjects?" He asked her.

"I'm her head of house and had to give her career advice last year. She mentioned not knowing wither she wanted to pursue a career in transfiguration, potions or spell creation." McGonagall told him.

"Why wasn't I informed of this? If a student is interested as potions for a career I should be informed so I can guide them accordingly." He told her.

"Would it have made any difference Severus?" She asked. "You openly refer to her as an insufferable know-it-all, would you really have changed your opinion just because she happens to like potions?"

The food at dinner impressed the Grangers who were worried about what kind of food wizards ate after Hermione had shown them some of wizard sweets. After dinner Dumbledore stood up. "It is wonderful to see so many welcome guests here in our halls. We will be holding the finals for our dueling championship starting tomorrow morning. We will be using a standard single elimination bracket. We have decided that the 7th year participants will receive the by for the first round. We will start the tournament promptly after breakfast. We will be rotating between the boys and girls tournament so make sure all you participants come prepared. Now back to your dorms for a good nights sleep before the festivities tomorrow."

Hermione said good night to her parents and walked them to their rooms. "Make sure you stay in your rooms until I come and get you in the morning. If you need anything you can ring the little silver bell on the fireplace and call for Dobby. Since this is a magical castle it is safer for you to stay in your rooms. I had the librarian put some books I thought you would like on the bookshelves." She kissed them both and headed up to the tower to go over her spells and hexes for the tournament in the morning.

Hermione was paired up against the 2nd year champion first and almost felt bad about having to fight her she was a cute little Hufflepuff muggleborn. Ginny was up against the 4th year competitor first and the 1st year was against the 3rd year with the 7th year having a by. Neville was up against Dennis Creevy first (3rd year) and Colin was against the 1st year and the 2nd year was against the 4th year.

The very first pair to duel was Hermione and the 2nd year. She smiled at her parents sitting with Harry and Ron in the stands before taking her place on the stage and bowing to the little girl before her who looked terrified at the thought of dueling a 6th year. Dumbledore gave the signal and Hermione let her try and cast the disarming spell. The spell hit but she held firmly to her wand and quickly returned the spell on the girl who hadn't learned to block yet and the girl's wand went soaring into her hand. Hermione smiled at the girl bowed again and handed her back her wand. Colin Creevy was the next to duel against a 1st year Slytherin. Colin won immediately with the disarming spell and gave the little boy back his wand before getting ready to watch Ginny duel with the 4th year Slytherin girl who had made a nasty comment to Gin earlier.

Ginny sent her a smirk worthy of any Slytherin before bowing and waiting for Dumbledore's signal. Hermione could tell she was going to play with the girl for while before taking her wand thanks to her big mouth saying she could easily beat Ginny. Gin put up her protective shield and watched the girl attempt a few hexes before starting in on the girl. She hit her with the giggle hex, the tripping hex and a confusion charm before hitting her with a particularly nasty version of her bat boggey hex and then disarming her. The Weasley boys were all jumping up and down cheering for their sister.

"That's the way Gin!" Charlie yelled out.

"Show those Slytherins whose boss!" George yelled while dancing a victory jig with Fred and Bill. Ron and Harry were waving Gryffindor banners and yelling their heads off just like they were during Hermione's duel.

The next duel was between Neville and Dennis Creevy. George was joking around doing his Trelawney impression saying her had a strong feeling that a Gryffindor would win this duel. All the Gryffindors were laughing at him as they waited for the duel to start. "Me mum's watching Neville so go a little easy on me. At least let me look like I deserved to be in this tournament please." Dennis asked as they climbed onto the stage. Neville let Dennis try and get a few shots off but blocked each one expertly. He disarmed Dennis after letting him try and hit him 5 times. They bowed and Dennis thanked Neville for the sporting chance.

The 3rd year girl from Hufflepuff beat the 1st year Ravenclaw. And the 4th year Ravenclaw boy beat the 2nd year Gryffindor boy to take care of the firs round of the tournament. Hermione's next opponent was the 3rd year Hufflepuff girl and Ginny had to take on the 7th year Ravenclaw Head Girl. Neville was up against the 7th year Slytherin champion and Colin was up against the 4th year Ravenclaw.

Colin was first and wasted no time disarming the 4th year causing some of the spectators to yell for longer duels that were more interesting. Ginny was next against the Head Girl and everyone settled in for what should prove to be a good show. Gin put up her shield immediately and started firing single hexes at the other girl to gauge how well she could deflect them. The Ravenclaws were all cheering at how their Head Girl seemed to be able to easily dodge the spells but they didn't seem to notice that she had no time to cast spells of her own. Ginny was having fun. She loved hearing her entire family cheering for her and decided to step the duel up to the next notch. She started throwing double spells at the head girl one after another. The girl was obviously well trained in defense as she was able to block both spells each time.

The students were reminded of the duel between Snape and Lupin where one was offensive the other was defensive. Ginny decided to up the show and started throwing triple spells at the other girl who was able to block two and mostly dodge the third. She got hit with a few and Gin decided it was enough showing off and sent a string of spells at the other girl, about six in all, ending with the disarming spell and caught the dazed Head Girls wand. The crowd went wild. They had never seen anyone fire off that many spells so fast before. Even the professors were standing in awe. Hermione even heard some Slytherins commenting on how you could definitely tell that Ginny was a pureblood by the way she fought. Once again the Weasleys were jumping up and down in their seats and screaming their lungs out for the youngest of the clan.

Neville was next to duel against the Slytherin 7th year champion who was rumored to have already taken the dark mark. Neville was determined to win for no other reason then to bring down the pompous Slytherin a few pegs. The bowed and started on Dumbledore's signal. Neville toyed with him for a while by first casting 'Incendio' to set the boys robes on fire before conjuring a bucket of water to dump over the boy's head. This caused gales of laughter from the Gryffindor stands who were all cheering and waving their Gryffindor banners. The boy was angry and tried to use a slashing hex that Neville expertly avoided and send a tripping jinx at him instead. The 7th year was a good opponent, he was able to block about half of Neville's shots and send off one of his own, but never connected on any of his spells. After Neville sent the boy spinning through the air the boy cast the same spell as Malfoy had in 2nd year to conjure the cobra. Neville had already thought about this possibility and said a similar incantation that conjured a mongoose to kill the phantom cobra. While the boy was watching his snake get killed Neville disarmed him and won the match.

The Longbottoms were jumping up and down with the Weasley boys now that their son had won. The Gryffindors were all cheering as well as the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs to see the Slytherin's last chance for victory in the tournament go down. Hermione's duel was last against the 3rd year Hufflepuff. She let the girl get off three spells that she easily blocked and almost lazily said the disarming spell and won the match. That put the Ginny versus Hermione for the girls' finals and Neville versus Colin for the boys final. The Gryffindors were on top of the world having the top 4 all be from their house. McGonagall was almost in tears she was so proud of her house.

The finals would be after lunch. The winners would receive a free weekend pass to Hogsmead for themselves and one friend as well as a gift certificate to both the bookstore and the Three Broomsticks. Neville was the clear favorite for the boys' tournament but it seemed to be a toss up between Ginny and Hermione. The staff table was alight with predictions between the girls. Sprout, Flitwick, Vector, Sinestera, and Dumbledore thought Ginny would win and McGonagall, Lupin, Tonks, Hagrid and surprisingly Snape thought it would be Hermione.

The boys went first. Colin and Neville bowed and tossed spells back and forth for a few minutes, each blocking the other's spells. Neville took a page out of Harry's book and flipped Colin upside down and silenced him before taking his wand. The move earned cheers from the stands and Neville righted Colin and gave him back his wand before Dumbledore presented him with a bade that read "Hogwarts Dueling Champion" to wear on his robes as well as his pass to Hogsmead and gift certificates. He was hugged by his parents and couldn't believe how great it felt to be the winner and have his parents here to see it.

Hermione and Ginny had talked it over and decided they would go all out for the duel. Even though they were best friends they wouldn't let that effect how they fought. They also agreed to not let it bother them that the other won, they would just be happy that their friend was the champion.

They both placed their charms and spent the next 30 min breaking down the other's barriers. Once they were down they got into the routine of blocking then casting and it lasted for a while. Hermione could block up to three of Ginny's curses and still have time to fire one back. Ginny had the speed but Hermione had the power. One spell from Hermione was just as powerful as all three Ginny would send. The battle was one of the best fought ones they had seen. The fight between Neville and Draco was just as good but the girls almost seemed like they were dancing they were so smooth with their wand movements and incantations.

It finally came down to Hermione having to roll forward to avoid Ginny's bat boggey hex. While rolling Hermione cast a banishing charm and made Ginny fly backwards to the end of the platform. While Gin was in the air Hermione cast the disarming charm and got control of her wand. The two girls hugged and bowed to everyone cheering for them. The Grangers were cheering loudly and so were the Weasleys. Hermione was like a second daughter to them so if their girl was going to loose it might as well have been to her.

Hermione blushed when she was presented with her Champion badge and grinned at the gift certificate to the bookstore. She and Neville had their pictures taken to put in the Daily Prophet and they all went upstairs to the DADA classroom to celebrate with the rest of the order members who were at the school.

Chapter 34: Fearful of Father

The party went well after curfew but it didn't matter since all their parents and professors were present. Draco and Gabrielle joined them after a few hours. The mood in the Slytherin common room was dark and it seemed the sly Slytherins were plotting revenge against the Gryffindors for loosing the tournament.

Bill pulled Hermoine and Neville to the side to ask them a favor. "I have an announcement to make and I was hoping you wouldn't mind if I made it now while my whole family was here. I understand if you don't want to since this is your party and all" he rambled on quickly, obviously nervous.

"Sure Bill," Hermoine said hugging him. She gave Neville a wink since they both had an idea what the announcement would be. Before Bill even had a chance to get everyone's attention Ginny squealed and ran to him throwing her arms around him.

"I knew you'd get the nerve up sooner or later," she whispered in his ear. She had one of her 'visions' of him announcing his news.

Bill just shook his head at his sisters seeing ability and walked over to Harry. "I have been looking for the perfect ring for Fleur and couldn't find anything remotely good enough for her." Her started, "I saw this amazing ring in the vault and was wondering if I could buy it off you. That is unless you had it in mind for another member of my family." Bill said with a smile.

"Was it a huge diamond in its own velvet bag or was it in with another ring?" Harry asked already knowing the answer.

"It was by itself. Although the ruby and emerald ring was gorgeous it just wasn't for Fleur." Bill told him.

"I know, that is the one I had in mind for after graduation for Gin and the one with it I thought was perfect for Hermoine. The other one I had already set aside for Fleur. I knew you would have a hard time finding anything for part Veela, they just need a special type of ring to compliment their beauty." Harry told him with a wink.

"Does that mean I can buy it from you?" Bill said with a hopeful expression. "I brought it with me in case you would let me. I already asked her but I wanted a ring for her before we announced it to anyone."

"No, you can't buy it from me." Harry said seriously, enjoying the devastated look on Bill's face. "But you can have it. It was made for Fleur. Besides that was part of your Christmas present, but I didn't want to say anything until you were ready."

"Are you serious? Do you know what that ring is worth?" Bill asked in shock.

"Of course, what is family for?" Harry asked smiling. "Now go make your announcement and give her that ring!"

"Can I have everyone's attention please?" Bill called out as he went to stand by Fleur who was positively beaming with happiness. "I have an announcement to make!" Finally everyone was quieted down and watching the oldest redhead. "I have asked Fleur to marry me and she has accepted!" Everyone started cheering and Molly Weasley started crying as she went and hugged her oldest son.

"Oh, my baby is getting married! I'm so happy for you!" She told Bill and went over to hug Fleur. "Welcome to the family my dear."

"Hang on a second," Bill called out over the commotion. "I still have to make it official!" He kneeled down on one knee in front of her and took the ring out of his pocket. "Fleur Delacour, love of my life, will you please do me the greatest honor of becoming my wife?" He opened the velvet bag and held up the ring.

Fleur gasped as she looked at the ring. It was better than she could ever imagine. She had never seen such a perfect ring. "I love you Bill Weasley, of course I'll marry you." When he had asked her two days ago she couldn't believe it was true. She had never been so happy in her life but she was worried about his family's reaction, what if they didn't want a part Veela in the family?

"That is the most beautiful ring I have ever seen!" Gabrielle gushed as she hugged her sister and soon-to-be brother-in-law. "I'm so happy you have everything you wanted now."

Draco took a look at the giant rock on Fleur's hand and joked to Bill. "I'm never going to be able to compete with that ring!" Gabrielle laughed and he shook Bill and Fleur's hands and offered his congratulations. A house elf appeared seconds later with champagne and Dumbledore offered a toast to the couple.

"To our former head boy and our favorite French tri-wizard champion, may your lives be blessed with love, laughter and peace." He said with his twinkling eyes. As the crowd toasted and then went back to the celebration.

"So which one of your dear siblings will succumb to marriage next?" George asked the happy crowd.

"Charlie is next in age, but he isn't dating anyone yet." Ginny pointed out.

"That's because both Tonks and Hermoine are taken!" Charlie shouted out making Remus laugh and Ron turn red. "I think we should be looking for a double wedding of our favorite pranksters!"

"No way man, we barely started dating and have no plans for marriage until being forced into it by pain of death!" Fred said solemnly as George agreed.

"So it looks like a toss up between ikle Ronnikins and our beloved little sister!" Geroge added as the room looked over to the two couples who were standing next to each other both looking uncomfortable and blushing at the same time.

"I'll put my money on Potter asking first," Snape piped up holding up his glass to Harry in a silent salute.

"I second that motion," Draco added. "Besides, Hermoine won't agree to get married until she has finished all possible schooling!"

"That and Ron doesn't have to nerve to ask her now that he knows she could out duel him!" Charlie joked and they all laughed. No one seemed to notice the uncomfortable look on Hermoine's face except her parents.

"Now now, our little girl is way too young to be thinking about marriage." Mr. Granger said to ease the tension he could see his daughter was under. "We always told her to wait until she was in her mid twenties to get married. That way she has plenty of time to finish college and live a little before being tied down."

"Do you have wizarding colleges?" Mrs. Granger asked trying to change the subject.

"Yes, there are a few." McGonagall said also realizing the strain Hermoine looked under with the marriage talk. "Most entry level jobs do not require additional education. The universities are reserved for those who want to reach masters level in their craft. Only the best of the best are accepted as there are only 3 universities in the wizarding world."

"What do you want to study after Hogwarts Hermoine?" Remus asked her.

"I haven't made up my mind yet," She started. "But I have it narrowed down to wanting a mastery in either potions or transfiguration as well as an emphasis in spell creation." She told them. "That is assuming I get accepted into university." She said biting her bottom lip in worry for her fear of not being accepted.

"If your studies continue as they are, I doubt you will have any difficulties in being accepted to all three schools Miss Granger." Snape said as he made his way over to refill his drink and didn't see the smile light up her face at his praise.

"There's your answer Hermoine," Tonks told her. "Severus is never wrong in his assessment of individuals. If he says you'll make it then you will!"

The party finally winded down and the students were escorted back to their common rooms by their heads of house. "So your sister is marring a Weasley huh?" Draco commented once they were back in Slytherin territory.

"Yep, I'll be related to the Minister of Magic soon," she said before kissing his cheek goodnight and heading off to bed.

The next morning breakfast was lively with recaps of the tournament an everyone paying off their bets. Everyone was still commenting on Pansy's apology at dinner and her statement that muggle-borns were not as horrible as she had always said. The other houses thought it was great that Hermoine had finally put her in her place. None of the students noticed that the staff table looked especially subdued and almost nervous.

Hermoine was the first student to open her daily prophet and yelped and spit out her breakfast before shoving the paper into Harry's hands to read the headline: "Breakout At Azkaban! Dementors Join He Who Must Not Be Named"

"Shit!" Harry yelled out and looked up to the staff table to see the worried looks on Dumbledore and Remus' faces. "They told Fudge this would happen but he wouldn't listen and there haven't been enough guards trained yet to take over yet! We'll have to review patronus charms in DA." He was already thinking of the ramifications of the escape before he noticed the almost tortured look on Ginny's face. "What is it Gin?"

"Malfoy," she whispered. "Malfoy will have escaped." She told them while looking across the table where Draco was trying to look happy but they could all tell that he was upset and borderline terrified.

Harry went up to the staff table to talk with his dad and Tonks. After a few seconds of conversation with them and Dumbledore the Headmaster stood. "I am sure that this news comes as a shock to some of you. I have been dreading this occurrence for two years now. The ministry has been training guards since Arthur Weasley took over command. The prison was scheduled to transfer control to the ministry guards early next month. Rest assured that the Aurors will do everything in their power to recapture the prisoners and those prisoners that chose not to escape are already being held by the ministry guards who have since taken over the prison. I know many of you are frightened of the dementors. Because of their defection I have organized a training class to be held Tuesdays and Thursdays after dinner here in the great hall. Our DA professors along with Harry Potter will be giving lessons to teach you the patronus charm to ward off dementors. This is advanced magic and many of you will not be capable of it, but I encourage everyone who wishes to attend. The patronus is the only way to fight a dementor." With that he sat down and the hall broke into whispered conversations about the escape and the new lessons.

Mrs. Weasley said goodbye to Ron and Ginny along with the rest of the family. Mr. Weasley had been summoned away right after the party last night to deal with the breakout. Hermoine pulled the Longbottoms aside. "I'm worried about my parents' safety. After wining the tournament I'm an even larger threat to the death eaters. Can you accompany them home and ward their house. I know you both were Aurors and will be able to protect them as best as anyone." She asked them.

"Of course we will," Mrs. Longbottom told her. "We already discussed this with Arthur and have made two portkey necklaces for them to wear in case the wards fail. We will also be warding their dentistry practice. The portkeys will bring them to the burrow and from there Molly can get them to headquarters if needed."

"Thank you!" Hermoine said on the verge of tears. She hugged them and then her parents as they walked to the front gates of the school. The Longbottoms were going to apparate her parents home instead of using the floo.

"Be good Hermoine and say goodbye to Professor Snape for us." Her father told her. "Owl us sweetheart!" Her mother told her before they disapparated.

The next few days were tense at the school waiting to hear some news of the escaped death eaters and the dementors. The first attack they heard about was in the prophet Tuesday morning. Longbottom manor was attacked; obviously the dark side didn't realize they were not in residence.

"Why can't they just leave my family alone!" Neville stated angrily.

"You beat their favorite death eater in training as well as one of their new recruits. That was probably an attempt to upset you by killing your parents." Harry said bitterly. "It's a good thing they weren't there; it says here that over 25 death eaters attacked. Or at least that is what your house elf told the Aurors."

That nights training class was packed. Students from every house were present, even Slytherins trying to spy on the boy who lived. Harry got everyone's attention. "I learned this spell to protect myself from the dementors during my third year when they were here. It takes a lot of focus to even project a weak patronus. A corporeal patronus needs a very powerful memory to drive it, a happy memory. Let me demonstrate. I'm going to concentrate on a very happy memory and see how powerful my patronus is." He said the spell and his stag erupted from his wand and cantered around the hall a few times before disappearing. "Now I'm going to focus on a not so powerful memory and you'll be able to see the difference" He said the spell again and when his stag formed it was almost transparent and disappeared quickly.

The training went well that night. Those in DA had been told previously to pretend they couldn't create a patronus. The first person to produce a patronus was Malfoy followed quickly by Gabrielle. This earned cheers from the Slytherins who where still bitter that their house hadn't won the dueling championship. Neville was the best pretender out of DA, he was one of the 'worst' with his patronus and Harry had to try not to laugh at how the Slytherins were eating it up.

Draco got a letter the next morning at breakfast from his father.

Son,

Our master and I were disappointed to hear of your defeat in the dueling tournament. I am also disappointed that you have not joined my circle yet. These disappointments will be rectified soon. I will not allow you to become soft.

LM

Draco scowled at the letter and stormed out of the great hall and down to the dungeons to find Snape. Ginny hurried after him. "Draco!" She called as she caught up to him outside of the potions classroom. "What's wrong?" She asked.

He handed her the letter and waited for her to finish it. "He'll be showing up here soon enough to demand that I pledge my loyalty to the Dark Lord. He will want to speak with Gabrielle and determine her allegiance as well. I don't know what to do."

"Meet me at the Astronomy tower before the meeting tonight and we'll figure something out. Gabrielle can come to the meeting as well, it's time she joined us as well." Ginny told him and gave his hand a quick squeeze before running off to her first class.

Harry pulled Gabrielle aside at dinner and told her where to meet them for DA. She knew of their group and was excited to be invited. Tonks and Lupin were going to be demonstrating more protective and dodging spells that night and it would prove to be a useful meeting.

Ginny had an uneasy feeling in her stomach all day and new something bad was going to happen but hadn't gotten any visions to help her determine what. She was on edge when she went to meet Draco after dinner. As she climbed the stairs to the tower her feeling of unease tripled. It was such an intense feeling that she contemplated turning around and forgetting her meeting. As soon as she opened the door to the tower she could see Draco pacing the tower and tried to relax for his sake. Her relief to see him was short lived as the door slammed shut and Lucius Malfoy appeared from under an invisibility cloak and grabbed her and drew his wand before she had time to react.

"Father!" Draco exclaimed both startled and terrified for Ginny. "What are you doing here? Someone might see you and capture you!" Draco knew that he had to play the devoted son or Ginny would be in even greater danger. In Ginny's mind she was screaming for help but she wouldn't voice her fear in front of Malfoy senior, she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing he was unnerving her.

"I've been watching you all day," Lucius told his son. "Your mother was wrong, you have gone soft. I can not allow that to happen." He cackled. It was easy to tell that those months in Azkaban had unhinged his sanity even more than it was before.

"I don't know what you are talking about father," Draco said getting very worried about Ginny's safety and wishing that someone else was there to help them but they hadn't told anyone of their meeting as far as he knew.

"You lost the dueling tournament against a glorified squib and haven't taken the dark mark. I am disappointed and so is our lord. But don't worry son, we know the cause of your weakness and intend on remedying it." His father laughed.

"I am not weak father. I admit that loosing the tournament was my fault, I underestimated Longbottom, but that will never happen again. I waited to take the dark mark because Dumbledore is getting more suspicious and I didn't want to be expelled." Draco lied hoping his father would buy it.

"This little girl makes you weak and you don't even realize it!" Lucius roared. "She is poisoning your mind against all that you were taught to value."

"She is nothing to me father," Draco told him. "I only befriended her to gain favor with her father. I used her to gain favor for the Malfoy name within the ministry again."

Ginny realized what Draco was trying to do and decided to play along. "You bastard!" She screamed at him. "I thought I was your friend!"

"Why would I want to be friends with a muggle-lover and Potter's whore?" Draco sneered thankful that she had caught on.

"Nice try you two, but you can't fool me." Lucius yelled. "Now come Draco, we are leaving and you will take the mark at tonight's dark revel."

"What of the minister's daughter?" Draco asked trying to come off as casual.

"She is to be the night's entertainment," Lucius smirked. "Then you will show your loyalty by killing her and you will receive your mark."

"No!!!!" Ginny yelled struggling against his hold on her and trying unsuccessfully to reach her wand.

Draco had paled at his father's comment. He couldn't let his father take her with them and he didn't want to take the mark. He would have to stand up to his father for the first time in his life and if he lost both he and Ginny would die. He drew his wand and pointed it at his father, "Let her go." He said with as much conviction as he could. "I won't allow you to harm her and I refuse to kill her or let any of your death eater allies touch her."

"You are no longer my son," Lucius growled. "If you refuse to take the mark I shall have to kill you. I will not allow you to disgrace the name of Malfoy."

"You already disgraced the name of Malfoy. You are but a servant to a lunatic. You always taught me that a Malfoy never answers to anyone yet you grovel before a half-blooded mad-man. I refuse to allow anyone to be my master." Draco told him calmly.

Lucius tossed Ginny to the side and started to duel his son. "It's not too late, you have been brain washed by this chit of a girl. Kill her now and all will be forgiven." Lucius said as he turned his wand on Ginny who was unable to dodge the crucio he sent at her. She screamed in pain.

"Stop!" Draco yelled and sent curse after curse at his father who had to lift the curse against Ginny to dodge his son's hexes. The duel was fierce for a few moments.

With an almost sad look on his face Lucius said, "Goodbye my son," and began to cast the killing curse on his only son. Draco saw the change in his father's demeanor and knew what was coming.

Draco yelled out the curse before his father could finish his own. Lucius only had time to mutter Adva before Draco screamed, "Adva Kedvara" with all the hate he could muster at his father who was prepared to kill him because he wouldn't join the dark lord. Draco cried out in anguish as his father fell to the ground dead with eyes wide.

The door to the tower had burst open as Draco killed his father and Harry rushed in. He had heard Ginny's silent call for help in his mind and had rushed to save her. He realized he had been too late. Ginny rushed to Draco and held him to try and comfort him. Dumbledore and Snape appeared seconds later as the wards had alerted them to the use of unforgivables in the tower.

Draco was a mess. He had just murdered his father. He may not have agreed with his beliefs but he was still his father and it hurt that he was dead and that he was to blame. He couldn't even realize that Ginny was consoling him or that Snape and Dumbledore and Harry were taking in the whole scene.

"What went on here?" Snape asked.

"I heard Ginny's calls for help in my head. She kept saying that Lucius had her, I could tell she was scared and rushed up here in time to see Lucius start the killing curse on Draco but somehow Draco sensed what his father was going to do and beat him to it. Ginny had crucio put on her by Lucius as well, I could feel it." Harry told them.

Dumbledore magically raised Malfoy's dead body from the floor and had Harry help Ginny and Snape help Draco to the hospital wing. While Poppy checked out Ginny and Snape forced Draco to take a dreamless sleep potion Dumbledore called in the ministry. Tonks was summoned as well since she was still an active auror.

By the time Arthur and Kingsley Shacklebolt arrived everyone but Draco was in the headmaster's office. Ginny had been given a clean bill of health but was still visibly shaken and clinging to Harry like her life depended on it.

"What happened Ginny?" Her father asked her carefully. "We need the entire story so we can figure out what to do with the situation."

"Draco's father grabbed me and said I was the reason he had gone soft. He told Draco that he was taking us to the dark revel tonight and I was going to be the entertainment and then Draco was going to have to kill me to prove his loyalty and receive the dark mark." Harry gasped and grabbed a hold of her tighter.

"Draco and him started dueling then after Draco told him he wouldn't take the mark. Then Lucius crucioed me and Draco yelled and fought harder. His father tried to kill him but Draco got his curse off faster." Ginny finished and then started crying.

"We'll need to see her memory to witness the fight. We will speak with young Malfoy when he wakes up." Kingsley said and Ginny got up and deposited her memory in the pensive and sat back down. Mrs. Weasley showed up then and rushed to her daughter and took her in her arms. The rest of the group including Harry approached the pensive to find out what happened. They came out of the pensive looking grave.

"I find Mr. Draco Malfoy to have acted in the best interests of this world. He fought bravely against a death eater bent on destroying the daughter of the Minster and refused to join the Dark Lord." Kingsley stated and the rest agreed. The press would only be told that Lucius broke into Hogwarts to kidnap the Minister's daughter and was killed during the struggle.

Ginny was taken to her room and given dreamless sleep for the night. Harry went off to tell Ron and Hermoine what went on. Mr. Weasley, Dumbledore and Snape went to speak with Draco while Kingsley took Malfoy's body to the ministry to fill out the proper paperwork and inform Mrs. Malfoy. Tonks had the task of informing the rest of the teachers and checking the wards on the castle.

Madame Pomfrey woke Draco who was still shaken by the night's events. Mr. Weasley touched Draco's shoulder. "I am sorry that you had to experience that situation and I wish there was a way to ease your pain. No one should be forced to kill their father. There will be no repercussions for your use of the unforgivable curse, but know that if the situation was different you would be facing serious consequences. The press will not be informed of your role in this and no one will know it was you that took your fathers life. This should keep you free from suspicion by your Slytherin peers. On a more personal note, I want to thank you for your defense of my daughter. You are a true ally and will always be welcome in my house. I owe you my dept for my daughter's life."

"I accept your friendship but not your dept. My family has done horrible things with its money and power. Consider this the first step in restoring the name of Malfoy. I greatly value Ginny's life and will continue to protect her, even if you no longer are minister." Draco told him and the two shook hands.

"Although you cannot be honored for your sacrifice in public, know that you have many here who care for you and will be here if you need council." Dumbledore added.

They left Malfoy to speak with Snape. "There will be many rumors starting tomorrow, I am not sure your allegiance will be able to be kept secret long. I will speak with Miss Delacour and we will create an alibi your peers will accept. We will return shortly." Snape said before leaving to get Gabrielle.

Gabrielle decided they would say they were in the unused classroom on the second floor all night. She didn't care if it tarnished her 'reputation' as long as it kept suspicion away from Draco. They went as far as having Draco purposely give her a love bite on her neck that would be visible evidence of their evening's activities.

Snape was in Dumbledore's office going over their story for when he would be called later. Lucius had mentioned a dark revel tonight so he needed an appropriate story for the Dark Lord on his demise. They decided to say that Lucius had Miss Weasley in his possession and was looking for Draco when he was discovered by Tonks. The two fought and she killed Malfoy. It was believable since she was an auror. Snape was to say that Malfoy must have been weakened by his stay in Azkaban and that is why he failed. He was to also mention that young Malfoy and his girlfriend were both missing from the common room and he could not find them before being summoned.

They had just finished with their story when Snape was summoned. He hurried to the forest to apparate to the location of the dark revel. He hurried forward and bowed before the Dark Lord. "My lord I come before you with ill tidings." Snape spoke quickly so as to get out the statement before being punished for speaking out of turn.

"Tell me of these ill tidings," The snake like man said.

"Lucius Malfoy is dead; he was killed this evening while abducting the daughter of Arthur Weasley." Snape told.

"Tell me more and tell me if his son was involved." Voldemort said.

"No my lord, from what I gather Lucius had apprehended the Weasley girl and was looking for his son when Tonks the DADA teacher and auror found him. It was she that killed Malfoy after he placed the crucio on the girl and attempted the killing curse on the auror. She told me he seemed slower and less powerful. I fear that Azkaban may have slowed his magic my lord and he was unable to survive." Snape told him.

"Were you able to find young Malfoy?" Voldemort asked.

"No my lord, both young Malfoy and his intended were missing from the common room and the other teachers and I hadn't found them before I was summoned. I expect that young Malfoy was on a lets say romantic rendezvous with his intended and they were well hidden so as not be disturbed." Snape finished.

"Very well, you did well in bringing me this information." Voldemort said as Snape made his way to his place in the circle. The revel was over quickly as the news of Malfoy's death spread through the ranks. Snape returned to the school without being subjected to crucio for the first time in many revels.

Chapter 35: Coming to Terms

Draco stayed in the hospital wing the next day so he wouldn't have to deal with the rumors that he was sure were floating around. Crabbe, Goyle and Zabini all came to visit and give their condolences. Draco acted both sad and angry. "If he had only told me he was coming he wouldn't have had to look for me and he would still be alive!" He yelled to his friends.

"He should have told you, everyone in the house knows that you and Gabrielle go off for your alone time at least 3 nights a week!" Zabini told him. "There was nothing you could do."

Gabrielle came in and climbed up onto the bed with Draco and hugged him. He buried his face in her hair and the others left them alone. "Will I ever feel better about this?" He asked her trying not to cry and failing.

"You did the right thing but it will never leave you. After a while the pain will numb." She told him soothingly. "I am sorry about your father. I know that even though he was an evil man that you loved him, he was your family. It's supposed to hurt when you loose a loved one; it shows us that you're human."

"Thank you for being here for me," Draco told her as she wiped his tears away.

"I'll always be here for you Draco," She told him seriously, "I'm your intended, and we'll be together for a long time."

Ginny was a mess the next morning. She was nervous and jumped at the slightest sound. Harry, Ron and Hermione walked her to every class so she did not have to be alone. She was all right until potions class. Potions reminded her of Draco and everything that went on the night before and she started to shake and cry. Snape noticed her having a breakdown. "Miss Weasley, perhaps you should go to the hospital wing and rest for the rest of the day. You are in no state to be working around volatile potions ingredients."

Ginny nodded and started to walk to the door before stopping and realizing she would have to walk alone to the hospital wing. She turned to look at Snape with an unspoken plea to not make her go alone. He saw her look. "Mr. Creevy, please escort Miss Weasley." Ginny gave him the smallest of smiles as it was all she could muster at the moment. She ran to Draco as soon as she was in the wing and hugged him. He pulled her close and they cried together.

"I'm so sorry Draco!" She told him when she had stopped crying. She was still sitting on his bed.

"It's not your fault Red, if he had loved me as much as he should have I never would have been put in that position," he said bitterly.

"I'm sure he loved you," she told him. "It's just that Voldemort is very persuasive. He worms his way into his followers' hearts and turns them black with hate, a lust for power and loathing for muggles and muggle-borns. You father may have had a choice in the beginning but once that snake got is hold in him he was no longer the same man."

"Are you alright? He put you under crucio, are you hurt?" Draco asked her.

"I'm fine; Madame Pomfrey took care of me. I'm worried about you. No one should have to watch their father die let alone have to do it. I wish their was something I could do to ease your pain." She said as another tear fell down her cheek.

"You're my friend, that's enough." He told her as they sat their holding hands.

Gabrielle and Harry showed up soon after they had stopped talking to check on their significant others. Ron and Hermione were guarding the door to watch out for Slytherins. Harry went to the side of the bed that Ginny was sitting on, "I'm very sorry for your loss Malfoy, just know that we are all here for you if you need us." He said shaking the pale blonde boy's hand.

Gabrielle was standing on the other side of the bed watching the interplay between Draco and Ginny. They were holding hands and yet it didn't seem to bother Harry who knew of Draco's feelings for Ginny. She was startled out of her inner musing when Draco took her hand and smiled a small smile at her. "Are you feeling any better?" She asked him as she moved a strand of his hair out of his face.

"A little," he told her, "now that you're here." They smiled at each other and Harry and Ginny took that as their cue to leave.

Ginny walked around the bed and hugged Gabrielle. "I'm so glad he has you to take care of him. He'll need your support more than anyone else's. Take care of him. He saved my life but you're the only one who can make sure he stays safe." She whispered to the Veela before pulling away and leaving the ward with Harry.

"I feel so helpless!" Ginny yelled in frustration when they had left with Ron and Hermione. "He grabbed me and I couldn't do anything to protect myself. What's the point in being so good at dueling if I can't even draw my wand! And what's worse is that I had a bad feeling all day and it got so bad as I walked to the tower that I thought about turning around. I should have listened to myself and stayed away. Then none of this would have happened!" She broke down and started crying again.

Ron took his sister in his arms and led her to Gryffindor tower. Ron comforted his sister while Harry went off to Occlumency lessons with Snape and Hermione went off to Ancient Runes. Tonks had switched his training with Snape since she had to go to the ministry and testify on why she used the killing curse. She informed them all that it was standard procedure. She likened it to when a muggle police officer is questioned after being forced to shoot a suspect and told them not to worry.

"How did you know Miss Weasley was in trouble?" Snape asked Harry once they were in his office and the silencing spell was in place. "You said yesterday that you could hear her calling for help in your head."

"It was like I could hear her thoughts just as if she was talking to me. She was screaming out for help. It was so loud that I couldn't hear anything else and knew I had to get to her and fast." Harry told him.

"Thought projection of such magnitude takes intense magic," Snape told him. "The fact that she was under duress would account for how she was able to project but doesn't account for how you were able to receive when both myself and the Headmaster were unable."

"Could it be my connection to her and she was subconsciously calling out to me not just a general distress call?" Harry asked him.

"Perhaps, but we will begin some thought projection exercises to train your mind to both send and receive. When Miss Weasley is feeling better we will have her learn as well. She was able to learn Occlumency quite quickly so I believe her to have the talent for this as well." They spent the next 2 hours practicing thought projection and by the end of the secession Harry could successfully hear Snape's projected thoughts and feebly send a response.

"That is enough for tonight." Snape told him. "I don't want you trying this on any of your friends and especially not on Miss Weasley until I can give her some instruction. Understood?"

"Yes sir," Harry told him before leaving for dinner.

The four friends ate silently all still processing what had happened the night before. The spent the night doing their homework and trying not to think about everything that had happened. The Slytherins were even worse to the other houses after the death of the elder Malfoy. Even though Draco had not been released from the hospital wing his housemates were already plotting revenge against Ginny and her pack of Gryffindor friends.

Snape and Dumbledore had a meeting that night to determine what to do about the rising Slytherin threat. "I fear for Miss Weasley's safety, even within these walls." Dumbledore said without his customary twinkle.

"The students with ties to the death eaters will want revenge for the loss of one of their own. They will not just target Miss Weasley, they will target all her friends. We will need to watch them carefully and put Mr. Malfoy and Miss Delacour on alert as well. They will be able to notify us of any plots." Snape told him.

"We were lucky last night. Lucius knew how to skirt the wards and enter the castle. We will have to be more careful. I will not allow a student to be harmed in this school." Albus said.

"Perhaps we should increase the number of patrols for teachers and prefects. We should also make sure the prefects patrol in pairs. The wards should be checked as often as possible, perhaps the ghosts can help with that task." Snape suggested.

"What will happen to young Malfoy if his housemates find out the truth or suspect his allegiance with the light?" Dumbledore asked the head of Slytherin.

"It will be a grave situation." Snape said carefully. "There are only a few older students that are suspected of wither having joined or are going to join. The rest are waiting until after they finish school to decide. The 7th years are the ones we will have to concern ourselves with. I believe the 6th years will rally behind Draco as well as some of the younger students. I hope that situation does not arise."

Draco and Gabrielle walked into the Great Hall the next morning holding hands. Draco was still in a daze trying to process that his father was dead at his hand and that he had to act like he was outraged by it for the Slytherins. They sat at the table and Draco received pats on the back and comments like, "We'll get them back," and "They will pay." Her tried to ignore everyone and was doing a good job until mail arrived and his family's owl landed in front of him with a letter from his mother.

Draco,

The funeral will be on Saturday. Professor Snape can escort you. Bring Gabrielle. We will talk more when you arrive.

Mother

It was a short note and he didn't know what to make of it. He expected a long narrative on how their would be hell to pay or at least some emotional outpouring of some sort. He looked at Gabrielle with a shrug as she read the letter and went to speak with Snape.

"My father's funeral will be on Saturday. My mother asked that you accompany me along with Gabrielle." Draco told him and handed him the letter.

"I will make arrangements with the headmaster," Snape told him with a nod. "We will meet in my office tomorrow morning to leave for your manor."

The day went by quickly and everyone was relieved when Tonks arrived back in time for DADA. She told them that the hearing went fine and that she was actually promoted for saving the Minister's daughter. "They promoted your for killing a man?" Hermione asked in shock. "That's barbaric!"

"I know it is, but they felt that my exemplary performance while saving the Minister's only daughter merited a pay increase." She shook her head. "My department head is trying to get on Arthur's good side and thinks it will help. I can't say I mind the raise though, they always seem to skip over me in favor of their male Aurors."

"I heard that the wizarding world was still behind the time on equal rights for women." Hermione said in a huff as she sat down at her desk. Ron and Harry shook their heads and hoped she wouldn't start campaigning again.

"It's not that far behind." Tonks told her. "It's just that they believe men and married women have more influence and therefore it's harder for single women. In fact there are many jobs that single women can't even apply for."

"That is utter discrimination!" Hermione exclaimed. "Why doesn't anyone do anything about it?"

"It's because men have their family name to distinguish them and once a woman marries she carries that name as well. Single women are still considered to be under the care of their fathers until such time that they marry. The discrimination is that the culture believes that until a woman is married her father takes care of her, therefore they need not pay her as much or sometimes even not hire her in favor of a man or married woman." Tonks told her calmly. "As soon as I marry Remus I will most likely get another promotion or pay raise."

"So you're telling me that I have to get married to get a high paying job?" Hermione asked in a huff. "That is just stupid; I have the top grades in this school!"

"But what does it matter Hermione?" Ron asked her. "I thought you wanted to get married." He realized that was the wrong thing to say when her eyes flashed dangerously.

"Of course I want to marry someday. I just never expected to marry right out of school. I want to further my education and have a career before marrying." She told him without noticing the almost hurt look on his face.

Harry sensing the row that could easily start between his two best friends suddenly changed the subject and prayed that class would hurry up and start. "So what are we going to do in Hogsmead tomorrow?" That lightened the mood and they discussed everything they needed to purchase before the bell rang and class started.

Harry had special training with Dumbledore after classes and hurried off. He always enjoyed learning from the Headmaster. He felt special being taught by the greatest wizard of the age. "We are going to focus on detecting magic now," Albus told him. "You are quickly mastering performing wand less magic. Now let's see how well you do at detecting magic around you. I need you to sit, clear your mind and focus on the room. See if you can sense any magic, then tell me what you feel."

Harry sat and did as he was told. He was excited about learning something new. He concentrated on the room. As he did so, he started to feel the room around him in a new way. It was as if the room was forming in his mind. Suddenly he could sense the magic flowing through the room. It was like a steady hum, very soothing. Then he started to notice small ripples in the magic of the room. As he focused on a ripple he realized it was a concentration of magic. The magic was concentrated to the side of the headmaster's desk as well as on a shelf father back in the room but the most concentration was around the professor himself. It was as if he radiated magic. Harry told him what he felt.

"Very good Harry. The magic you are sensing is latent magic or a magical signature if you will. The more powerful the wizard or magical creature the more concentrated their magical signature will be. Try again and see if you can determine what it is that is giving off the signature."

Harry concentrated harder and started to make out what was causing the smaller ripples. "The one by the desk is Fawks and the one on the shelf is the sorting hat," He said not seeing the smile on the old man's face.

"Wonderful, now keep your concentration and tell me what you see." Dumbledore said as he took out his wand and levitated one of his silver objects in the air.

Harry was in awe, he could feel the magic now coming from his professor. It was a colorful blue tinted line that was stretching between the man and the object. "It's like a blue line coming from you and to the silver thing." Dumbledore then transfigured the silver object into a rabbit. "That was a dark turquoise colored beam and the bunny appears as turquoise in my mind, like I know it shouldn't be a bunny at all." Dumbledore then cast a confundus charm on the rabbit making Harry gasp. "That felt weird, it's hard to explain, but it was like I needed to protect the bunny or something. The magic was an orange beam." Dumbledore pointed his wand at the rabbit again and performed a stunning spell. Harry stiffened and shouted out a protection spell over the bunny using his wand less magic. He looked at the headmaster with wide eyes. "I could feel the spell, it was red and almost seemed alive and my urge to act to protect the bunny was strong."

"The magic that can hurt another usually appears as warm colors like reds, oranges, magentas and yellows. The other magics appear as cool colors like blues, greens, and purples. Healing magics will appear as white or translucent color and dark magic will appear black." Dumbledore told him. "You are a powerful wizard Harry. I know I keep telling you that but most wizards never learn to sense the magic that surrounds them. If you keep practicing, the sense will become second nature and you will be able to feel it at all times. For homework I want you to keep a list of everything that you see that has been magically altered. All objects like that will show that glow like the rabbit. When we meet Friday you can give me your list. Now have a good weekend."

Harry's brain was full of all the new knowledge he had learned. He could sense the magic of the school; it was a very calming feeling. When he reached the common room he practiced again. He could sense all the students and their magic. It was interesting to see whose magic signature was the strongest. Hermione and Ginny's signatures were strong it was hard to tell then apart since they were sitting next to each other reading. Ron had a strong signature as well, but not nearly as strong as the girls. Harry also noticed a glow on the wall next to the fireplace. The wall was glowing as if it had been magically altered; he decided to investigate it later. He made his list of the items in the room that had been altered before turning his attentions back to his friends.

Ginny got up from the couch and came over to sit in his lap. He sat and talked to Ron for a while before noticing that she had fallen asleep in his arms. The common room was starting to clear out to go to dinner so he took his opportunity and headed for the stairs with Ginny in his arms. "Hey mate, don't forget that you can't go up there. I don't think she'll want to wake up to you sliding back down here."

Harry just grinned and made his way to the base of the girls' stairs. He used his power filled voice and commanded the stairs, "Let me up," then walked up to lay Ginny on her bed. He tucked her in and headed down to dinner. Ron and Hermione were just staring at him when he came back down. "What? You knew I could do stuff like that."

The Golden Trio made their way down to dinner discussing their DADA homework. Hermione was complaining about not being able to spend the weekend in the library since it was a Hogsmead weekend. "Honestly Hermione sometimes I think you don't ever want to spend time with me," Ron whined.

"Ron you know that the most important thing to me right now is my studies. Please don't make a big deal out of this." She sighed knowing he wasn't going to let it go that easily.

"There is more to life than books and homework Hermione. You need to relax and have a little bit of fun once in a while!" Ron told her.

"I do have fun once in a while Ronald, why do you think I'm going to Hogsmead with you tomorrow?" She huffed.

"Because the library is going to be closed so Madame Pince can watch over the Slytherins while Snape is away." Ron told her, "I know that we would have to drag you with us otherwise. I just don't get it Hermione, why don't you want to spend time with me?"

"Ron, you're blowing this whole thing out of proportion. Now I'm going to go study before either of us says something we'll regret." She told him as she tossed her hair over her shoulder and marched out of the room.

"What's up with you two?" Harry asked curiously. "You've been arguing more and more recently."

"I'm just frustrated." Ron sighed. "I think I'm in love with her but I'm not sure she feels the same. Sometimes it is as if we are still only friends. We hold hands and she'll lean up against me on the couch or let me put my arm around her but we rarely ever kiss. When we do kiss it's a short peck on the lips or a quick brush on the cheek. She only ever kisses me when there is reason for it and I can count on one hand how many times that have been." Ron looked down at his plate dejectedly.

Harry looked at his friend with wide eyes. How had he missed that? He just assumed that Ron and Hermione's relationship was as great as his and Ginny's was. "Hermione is just shy. Maybe she doesn't want to rush into anything. The only other boy that's ever been interested in her was Krum and she told Ginny that she never really liked him but didn't have anyone else to go to the ball with and that is why she said yes."

"I know she doesn't want to rush anything, but I thought she wanted a relationship. After her comments to Tonks I'm not so sure she does." Ron said.

"What comments?" Harry asked trying to remember the conversation.

"She said she thought that it was horrible that society didn't give better jobs to single witches. She said that she didn't want to get married right out of school and that she wanted to further her education and have a career before marrying." Ron told him.

"Well that sounds like our Hermione, she wants to make all her dreams come true before settling down and starting a family. What's wrong with that?" Harry asked.

"I just thought that we would get married after school. You would marry Ginny and I would marry Hermione. The two of us would go to auror training while the girls went on to do whatever they want to do. Ginny to be a potions mistress and Hermione on to get 4 degrees and the highest marks the university had ever seen. I never really thought about her wanting to wait until after that to marry." Ron said with a sigh.

"Have you two ever talked about this?" Harry asked him curiously. "I mean we are kind of young to be planning our weddings."

"No we never discussed it. I just can't help but feel that she and I are growing apart. It's almost to the point we were at before we started dating. I just feel like her chum not her boyfriend. I wish we could have what you and Ginny have. The two of you just exude love to each other. To tell you the truth, your relationship makes me jelous that I don't have that kind of love." Ron said hanging his head and not meeting Harry's eye.

"Let's do something special for the girls then tomorrow. I'll get us a table at the Italian restaurant in Hogsmead and we'll treat them to a nice lunch. Then we can go for a carriage ride around town or you can take Hermione to the book store and Gin and I can find something to do if you want some alone time." Harry told him. "Maybe if you show her how much you want the relationship to work she will be more receptive. At least you might get a kiss out of the whole thing!" The boys spent the rest of the night planning the date for the next day and sent owls to the girls requesting their presence for lunch. Ginny slept the whole night and Hermione was still hiding in the library so they had plenty of time to plan out their romantic rendezvous.

Chapter 36: Attack on the Village

Ginny smiled when she woke up the next morning. She had slept peacefully with no bad dreams. She rolled over in bed and wondered how she got there. She remembered cuddling up with Harry on his chair and starting to feel sleepy but nothing after that. She shrugged and got up. She noticed the note from Harry on her bed table. There was a light purple rose and an invitation to lunch at the Italian restaurant. She smiled and put on her favorite purple robes and did her hair and makeup. She liked how Harry liked to spoil her and she did need to keep her mind off of what happened. She met Hermione in the common room and saw she was more dressed up than normal as well. "Did you get an invitation to lunch as well?" Ginny asked her with a smile.

"Yes. I'm looking forward to some Italian food." The girls talked for a few minutes until the boys tromped down the stairs wearing nice robes. Harry was in his green silk with the Potter crest and Ron in deep maroon almost black that his mother had recently sent him, even though he hates maroon.

Ron walked up to Hermione and kissed her hand. "You look beautiful this morning, and every morning for that matter." He told her making her smile. He loved her smile and realized her needed to do more to make her smile, not just take her for granted.

"Shall we go to breakfast love?" Harry asked Ginny and offered his arm to escort her to the Great Hall. There were many students at breakfast since everyone was excited for the Hogsmead visit.

Remus walked by and noticed the group in their nice robes and smiled. "You ladies look lovely this morning. I expect you two gentlemen to be on your best behavior today." He winked at Harry and went to sit next to Tonks at the head table. Although they were engaged they still kept their relationship quiet. They didn't hide it exactly but they avoided any public displays of affection to keep the rumors down. They were happy and content with their relationship and didn't want any scrutiny placed on it yet. Remus was sure that there would be concerned parents so they weren't going to announce anything until they were married. They were getting married the week after school got out and planned on spending half the summer traveling Europe for their honeymoon.

"They look like they are going to have a good time today," Tonks said smiling at her fiancé. "Even Hermione looks happy to be leaving the library."

"Did you know that Harry already plans on asking Ginny to marry him once he finishes school?" Remus asked her.

"Yes, and I heard that she had a vision of their wedding." Tonks told him with a smile. "She hasn't been wrong yet so it looks like he will actually get up the nerve."

"I just hope he remembers that they are both young and not to rush certain aspects of the relationship. They are both only 16." Remus commented.

"Don't spoil their fun old man. Ginny won't let the relationship go that far. She is a strong minded girl and will put her foot down. She is a lot like her mother in that regard," Tonks laughed as the group headed to the entrance hall to be signed out.

The four stepped out of the castle and headed toward the carriages that would carry them down to Hogsmead. Ginny gasped and buried her head in Harry's cloak starting to cry. She calmed as the climbed into the carriage. "It's so startling to actually see them when just last time I couldn't. I liked the idea of invisible horses better than them. They are so strange looking. I can't believe that's what we rode on last year."

Harry finally realized she was talking about the thestrals. She had seen Lucius Malfoy die and could see them now. He hugged her closer to him. "Shh, it's ok love. They are actually very gentle creatures. Nothing to worry about."

"Yes, but Harryâ I can see them. I hoped I'd never be able to and now I'm only 16 and have had to watch someone die in front of me in the worst possible way. How did you handle it? I hated Malfoy and yet to see him die still haunts my dreams. In my dreams it's Draco that dies not his father. In my dreams Draco wasn't fast enough and his father killed him and then he turns his wand on me and I wake up as a flash of green light is shooting towards me." Ginny told him.

Harry looked to Ron and Hermione for support. Ron had his arm around Hermione who was trying not to cry. Ron himself had no idea what to say to make his sister better. Hermione moved over next to Ginny and hugged her tight. "You don't have to worry about that man hurting you anymore. He's tried to hurt you too many times, but never again. He's dead and won't be able to hurt anyone ever again." That seemed to be the right thing to say as both girls hugged once more and stopped crying.

"I say we head to Zonko's first for some laughs. Besides Fred and George gave me flyers to pass out when we are in there with their mail order catalog info on them." Ginny told the group as the carriage arrived in Hogsmead.

They spent the morning shopping and looking around town. They handed out all the flyers before they headed off to make their lunch reservation. On their way to the restaurant they passed a vacant building and Ginny had chills run up her spine. She tried to shake off the feeling but it wouldn't go away. "There's something odd going on in there." She told them all, "I can feel it."

They made it to the restaurant and were seated at their best table. The chef came out to great Harry and the Minister's children and suggested his specialty for lunch. The four agreed to let the chef chose their menu and sat happily chatting about different things to pass the time. "It's still weird to be treated like that." Ron told them. "I'm still used to being overlooked. This whole celebrity by association with both the boy-who-lived and my father is getting kind of strange."

"Try being famous for something you barely remember. At least with you they only think you're normal. Some of these people treat me like I'm some sort of god. It's bloody annoying at times." Harry said laughing.

"At least they still ignore me!" Hermione laughed. "I'd hate to think of what I'd have to do to get treated like the three of you!"

"You mean like 'There goes Hermione Granger, she had the highest NEWTs ever and managed to read the entire Hogwarts library restricted section and all while at school." Ron joked with her.

"No it would have to be something to get her into the society pages for anyone to notice. Like she'd have to marry one of the titled purebloods or be discovered as a pureblood herself." Ginny told them all realistically. "Just because she probably will get the highest ever NEWTs and has read the entire library doesn't mean that the gossip society will take any notice. Although they did do a good number on you after the whole Krum/Harry love triangle thing."

"I still can't stand that Skeeter woman, even if she did write that article for Harry last year in the Quibber." Hermione told them all which made everyone laugh.

"So what will it be Hermione, marry a pureblood lord or find out you're a pureblood?" Harry asked with a wink.

"It'll have to be marrying the handsome and ever so wealthy stuck up pureblood lord because I look way to much like my family to have been adopted and I think I would have noticed if my parents were wizards." She laughed, not noticing the sour look on Ron's face at the topic of discussion. Ron was about to say something that would most likely ruin their lunch when Ginny went rigid in her seat and then started to sway.

Harry held her until she came out of her vision. She opened her eyes, they were wide with fear. She jumped up and ran to the floo connection across the restaurant and contacted Dumbledore. "Sir, I just had a vision of Hogsmead being attacked. I saw Hermione in it fighting off death eaters wearing the same robes she's wearing now. It's today sir, you have to call for help." She had just finished saying that when there was a scream from outside. "They're here, hurry!" She said and jumped to her feat to join her friends who had heard her conversation and were already at the door with wands drawn. They raced out to protect the younger students.

They raced over to the side of town where most of the students gathered. As they neared the vacant shop they realized that was the entry point for the death eaters. Ginny's bad feeling had been right again. They started to fight the death eaters, shooting stunning spells and tying them with ropes that wouldn't let them apparate. They were quickly joined by Neville and the rest of the EDA (minus Draco). The members of the regular DA were huddling the students who couldn't fight inside the Three Broomsticks and casting group protection spells.

"Well well well if it isn't Potter, the mudblood and the muggle-lovers." A shrill voice said as the death eater made her way closer to them.

"Bellatrix Lestrange," Harry growled and saw Neville tense up and look daggers at their mutual enemy. "You should leave now, I can't be held responsible for anything I do to you. You killed my godfather and I would love nothing more than to kill you."

"Poor little Potter. Didn't you learn your lesson last time? You can't cast an unforgivable without meaning it." She cackled.

"Oh I mean it you evil bitch," Harry told her. The whole time they were talking they were sending and blocking each other's hexes. "I'll do whatever it takes to bring you to your knees." He said as he hit her across the face with a slashing hex making her bleed.

The death eaters were dropping like flies against the EDA and were unsuccessful in penetrating the shields and wards the DA had put up around the Three Broomsticks. The fight was not going their way; they had not expected Potter and his classmates to fight back. They were to capture the Minister's daughter and the mudblood, kill the Minister's son and either kill or capture Potter. They were also supposed to kill and hurt as many students as they could. The Dark Lord would not be happy with their progress.

Harry hit Bella with many more curses and was able to deflect or dodge each one of hers. She was growing impatient and frustrated and that was a lethal combination in a mad woman. He knew he needed to finish her before she cast the killing curse on him. "Time to say goodbye baby Potter, it's time to join your mudblood mother." She said raising her arm again. Harry knew it was time to stun her so he shouted the curse. What he didn't realize is that each of his fellow EDA members had heard her comment and each shot a stunner at her as well. In all she was hit by 10 stunners at fairly close range and dropped hard.

Harry and Neville nodded to each other as Neville bound her and they continued the fight. The fight went on for another few minutes before help finally arrived. The professors had first to protect the school and the 1st and 2nd years inside before running down from the castle to help. The battle was almost won by the time the Aurors and professors showed up. The EDA had captured and stunned no less than 35 death eaters when reinforcements arrived and no one in their number had even a scratch. The rest of the students were safely enclosed within the Three Broomsticks waiting for the all clear from their professors to go back to the castle.

Remus raced to Harry and wrapped him in his arms mumbling something about damn Potters always having to play hero. "Dad, I'm fine. We kicked those death eater's butts. Look not a single one of us has a scratch on us!" Harry said prying himself away from his concerned parent. It was a nice feeling to know he was so worried. Tonks had finished hugging the other members and grabbed Harry once Remus let him go.

"If you hadn't just saved the entire village you would be in so much trouble mister!" She told him and he laughed. "That was a great way you organized the DA like that. How did you do it?"

"We have been planning just in case for a while. The DA knew to protect the students at any cost. To band together and use a shielding spell to keep the younger ones. Then myself and a few others would keep the attackers occupied until help arrived. Ginny had already contacted Dumbledore before the attack began so we just had to hold them long enough for you to arrive and get the students to safety." Harry told her calmly. He hated to admit it, but it felt good to duel the death eaters. He loved the feeling of firing off spells at the bad guys.

The students and the DA were sent back to the school with most of the teachers. Tonks, Lupin, McGonagall and Dumbledore stayed behind with the EDA to sort out what happened with the Aurors. "What I don't understand is why the townspeople and shopkeepers didn't come out to help us." Hermione told them. "They just left the students to fend for themselves. If we hadn't been here they could have been massacred!" She was livid and glaring daggers at any of the shop windows she could see.

"It's a sad world we live in Miss Granger. Most people live in fear of the Dark Lord and would never openly challenge the death eaters. In fact the only known people to stay and fight have been Aurors, magical law enforcement and Order members. That is until today when a group of students stood up for themselves and showed the world what they were made of." Dumbledore twinkled.

"They never would have expected such a show of strength. They were unprepared for the assault and had not idea as how to break through the shields and wards the DA put up around the students." Tonks told them. "The reason they have been so successful in their attacks is they instill fear in people and they run. Or they attack when the victim is unprepared to they are unable to fight back."

"That shield was a work of art Mr. Potter," McGonagall told him. "Madame Rosemerta told me that within a minute of the attack your DA members had every student in the area herded into her bar and the shields up. She said they actually stood outside raising and dropping the shields until they got all the students and cast the impenetrable shield. Your training is going very well I see."

Arthur Weasley arrived then with the head Auror to survey the scene. They walked to Dumbledore to find out what went on. "So you're telling me that all these death eaters were captured by Harry Potter and his young friends here?" The head auror said disbelievingly. "Are you sure that the Aurors are not just being modest?" Harry could see Tonks roll her eyes and tried not to laugh in the face of his future boss.

"I am quite certain sir," Harry said with a smirk. "My friends and I were not going to stand around and let some death eater trash walk all over us and our fellow students."

"Are you implying that Harry Potter and Arthur's youngest children were lying?" McGonagall asked him with a dangerous glint in her eye. The man had been a Fudge supporter and was replaceable in her eyes.

"So it was the 10 of you fighting against the Death Eaters while the rest of your friends protected the other students by using magical shielding and huddling them all in the Three Broomsticks?" Arthur asked them as they all nodded in the affirmative.

"May I ask why you felt the need to fight instead of alerting the authorities and joining your classmates in the pub?" The jerk of a head auror asked.

"Ginny alerted Dumbledore before we started fighting. We knew we had to draw the death eaters away from the other students and that is why we fought. As well as the need to kick a little death eater ass and show them that they will not succeed in taking on Hogwarts or its students." Hermione told the rude man.

"And you are?" He asked obviously not impressed.

"Hermione Granger, prefect Gryffindor House." She told him and then pointed out the rest and introduced them as well. "I'm sure you know Ron and Ginny Weasley since you work for their father." Dumbledore just stood to the side and twinkled at his students.

"Sir," one of the Aurors who was taking care of transporting the captured Death Eaters to the ministry came up to him. "There is a problem with one of the death eaters. She is dead sir."

The head auror turned to Harry again. "Would you care to explain Mr. Potter?"

"I assume that is Bellatrix Lestrange he is referring to. She and I dueled and as she started to cast the killing curse both myself and several of my friends stunned her at the same time. Our intention was not to harm her, although I cannot say I am upset about her death." Harry told him smoothly.

"How many of you cast a stunner at her any why?" The auror asked the group. They all raised their hands and even Dumbledore raised his eyebrow at the news. They all retold the comment she made and how she raised her wand and how they thought she was about to kill Harry and had to do something to protect him. The students were allowed to return to the school after another round of questions and a promise that they would answer any further questions that auror Tonks may decide to ask later.

"I don't think it was a coincidence that today was Lucius Malfoy's funeral and the day they chose to attack. They were trying to get payback for loosing one of their own." Ginny commented on the walk back up to school. Even the teachers looked at her with interest. "What other weekend would have so few Slytherins in attendance and it would have been a good show of strength on their part had it succeeded."

"Voldemort is going to be pissed off now," Harry added. "He doesn't like to lose or to have his plans thwarted; besides the fact that we permanently took out another member of his inner circle. He has lost two of his most devoted servants this week; that really only leaves him with Wormtail since the rest will be rotting in Azkaban. Such a shame." Harry said with a smirk.

The school was very quiet when they arrived back. The Headmaster escorted them into the Great Hall where the students were waiting. The entire hall broke into applause, even the Slytherins who had been in town were clapping. Many Slytherins were upset that they hadn't been given warning are were considered the same as the rest of the students. Dumbledore made his way to the front of the hall to speak to the students about what transpired.

"A great tragedy was avoided today. The death eaters attack was a response to the death of Lucius Malfoy a convicted death eater who was killed while trying to abduct Miss Weasley earlier this week. Voldemort wanted to instill fear into the hearts of the students here at Hogwarts. He assumed that you would all run and panic and that no one would come to your rescue until it was too late. I am very proud to say that he underestimated all of you. You all banded together and many of you risked your lives to protect your fellow students. For the past two years a group of students had banded together to form a defense club that would teach them the skills needed to defend themselves and the rest of the school from the vary threat we experienced today." The hall was silent at this realizing that was why those specific students seamed to know what to do in such a situation.

"This club has had to be kept silent to keep the rumors of its existence from the death eaters. I am now proud to be able to recognize those students. The majority in this club were the students responsible for the powerful shields and wards that kept you all safe within the Three Broomsticks. To each of you I award 20 points to your house for your courage under pressure. The remaining members of this group are the ones that kept both you and the townspeople from harm by fighting back." There was a small murmur through the students as they tried to get better looks at Harry and his little group.

"This group of 10 extraordinary students took out 37 death eaters. While Voldemort's servants did not hesitate to use dark curses your fellow classmates kept to simple stunning and disarming spells as well as anti-apparation binding spells. Will these 10 students please come forward when I call your name." He called each of them and they stood up in order of Harry, Ginny, Hermione, Ron, Neville, Colin, Dennis, Luna, Hannah, and Justin.

"Each of you will be receiving an award for special services to the school and 50 points each for your house. As a special treat for everyone we will have a feast and informal ball next Saturday night." Dumbledore finished as the students cheered. He decided that a ball would be just what was needed to keep their spirits up. It would take the attack off their minds and help them get back to the normal routine faster. "Curfew for 1st through 3rd years will be the same as normal on Saturday but will be extended for those 4th through 7th years who attend the ball until 11 pm. Now dinner will be brought up to your common rooms tonight. You all will go directly to your common rooms now and stay there for the night. The castle wards need to be adjusted in light of recent events and any student out of their common room will be severely punished. I just need to speak with the 10 of you before you join your classmates." He then dismissed the hall.

Harry smiled at Ginny and leaned into her and whispered, "Will you be my date for the ball?" She grinned and nodded before winking at him.

Dumbledore led them all into the room off of the hall where the champions had gathered for the Tri Wizard tournament. "There will be reporters here to take your stories tomorrow afternoon. These are ministry paid reporters so they will not skew your words. We will also have ministry guests that will want to talk to your and perhaps honor your efforts at the feast next weekend. I just wanted you all to be ready. I also want to thank you all for what you did. I know that I revealed the DA but you are free to continue with your EDA training. I believe we may need to move DA sessions to the Great Hall now that the club is out in the open." He sent them back to their common rooms after that.

Harry smiled as they passed the points hourglasses. Gryffindor had 350 points more than the closest house. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were about even but still had over 100 points more than Slytherin since no one from Slytherin had earned points that night.

Chapter 37: Meanwhile at Malfoy Manor

Professor Severus Snape escorted Draco and Gabrielle to Malfoy manor early Saturday morning so that Draco could spend some time with his mother before the funeral. Gabrielle was nervous about meeting Mrs. Malfoy and seeing the manor where she would end up living. Draco could sense Gabrielle's nervousness and took her hand as they finished stepping out of the carriage in front of the beautiful white brick manor.

"I would advise that you act as if you are entirely depressed over your father's passing so you will not have to speak with the death eaters that I am sure will be here." Snape told Draco. "And Miss Delacour should stay by your side at all times to prevent any of them from being inadvertently attracted by Veela charms."

"Thank you for the advice sir, and thank you for coming with us. I didn't want to have to face them alone." Draco told them before opening the front door. The entry hall was beautiful and Gabrielle couldn't help but stare at the black marble floors and tall ceilings. They were met by a small house elf who took their cloaks and escorted them into the parlor where they were told the 'Mistress' was waiting.

Mrs. Malfoy sat on a long green velvet sofa wearing an elegant black gown and clutching a handkerchief. She made an impressive grieving widow. She rose and walked to her son when they arrived in the room. "Draco dearest," She said as she surprised him by hugging him fiercely.

"Hello mother," he said still stunned from her display of affection. Growing up he had always been told that Malfoys don't show emotion, to show emotion shows weakness. It was a popular pure-blood philosophy. In fact Severus' father had spouted the same to him as a child.

"Narcissa," Snape said bowing slightly to acknowledge the lady of the house.

"Severus, thank you for escorting Draco," She told him.

"It was the least I could do after your tragedy," Severus responded smoothly. Most people wouldn't have guessed he could be so polite when needed.

"Mother, may I present to you my girlfriend and intended, Miss Gabrielle Delacour." Draco said as he placed an arm around Gabrielle's small shoulders.

"It is an honor to meet you Mrs. Malfoy. It grieves me our introduction had to take part under such circumstances," Gabrielle said as she gave a small courtesy. Both Draco and Snape were impressed with her tone and formality. She had obviously been raised well and knew the proper way to address someone of Mrs. Malfoy's station.

"The honor is mine, and please call me Narcissa as we are to be family," She said to the girl as they all took seats on the sofas.

"You wanted to speak with me mother?" Draco asked her hoping to get any unpleasant business taken care of quickly.

"Yes," She said stalling as she glanced at Snape warily. Draco saw the look and realized she was uncomfortable speaking in front of Snape which was odd as he visited regularly.

"Please mother, I'm sure whatever it is can be said in front of Professor Snape. I trust that he will not reveal anything you may wish to say." Draco said hoping to sooth her.

"I guess it doesn't matter if he's here. You'll probably have a worse reaction yourself." She said with a sigh before continuing on. "Your father was a very possessive man Draco and he was power hungry. I'm not sure you know how far his thirst for power and control went."

"Please, hold on for a moment Narcissa," Snape said before standing and checking the room for any listening devices or spells as well as warding it against those things and erecting a silencing spell. "I just made sure the room was secure before you said anything that may have been misconstrued by anyone who was listening. Please continue."

Draco gave him a nod before she continued speaking. "Your father and I had an arranged marriage. I was forced to marry him to create a bond between the Malfoy line and the Noble House of Black. You father has always been a cruel man. He was learning dark magic before he learned to walk. He was the type of man who wanted a wife who would obey him and not think for herself. I was not that type of woman. I had very good marks at Hogwarts, top of my class actually, and was used to thinking for myself. Even though I was a Black, I was not trained in any dark magic. That was for the men in our family, even though Bellatrix learned them anyway." Draco was wondering where this story was going. From the sound of it she was about to make some startling revelation. He had never heard his mother talk so much in his life and she almost looked content and relaxed instead of tense and snotty as she usually was.

"Needless to say Lucius was not happy with me when we first married." She told them. "He would hit me repeatedly if I ever talked back or offered my opinion or even spoke without permission. After two months I was fed up with it and told him so. I told him that I was leaving and going back to my parents the next day. That was about 20 years ago." She sighed and took in their expressions. Draco's lips were pursed thin, Gabrielle had wide eyes and a Severus was blank of emotion as always.

"As you can see, I didn't get away." She told them. "That night he came to my room and forced a potion down my throat. That was my last moment of independent thought until Thursday. Every day he would feed me the potion. While he was in Azkaban he had his house elf feed it to me."

"What did the potion do? What is it called?" Draco asked curious now.

"The potion made me dependent on your father. It was a lot like the Imperius curse except that I couldn't resist it or build up a tolerance. In addition I could still function normally except I would do what your father said." She told him. "I'm sorry I was never there for you son, but I was told to keep my distance. He wanted to raise you to be just like him and threatened to kill me if I interfered, like I was even capable of interfering. I haven't held my wand in 20 years, he took it away from me that first night. He dictated who my friends were, what I wore, what we ate, every aspect of my life. The potion is a very dark potion, all his commands would last until he negated them with a new one. For example he commanded me not to speak unless spoken to and that command lasted almost two years until we had a dinner party and ran out of champagne. I wasn;t allowed to tell him about it since he hadn't asked. He had to then modify the command to allow me to inform him of important things quietly in private. He also had to modify it when you were born so that I could greet you and sing you to sleep. The day after he died was the happiest of my life."

"Why were you worried of my reaction?" Draco asked her softly. He couldn't imagine living your life like that. His father had placed him under imperio once to demonstrate its power and that one time was enough.

"You are your father's son and are loyal to the Dark Lord already even though thankfully you haven't taken his mark. The reason I told you all this is so that you will learn what an awfull man your father was and stay away from the darkness. Draco you are an amazingly bright wizard, don't throw your life away by following after some crazy man who will end up killing us all in the end." She pleaded with him. "If you don't do it for me then do it for Gabrielle. If you take that mark it will turn you completely evil. There is no escape once he has your loyalty. You are too independent to let him take away your freedom." She finished and then looked at Snape in fear. "I've finished now so you can do whatever it is you plan on doing to me."

"While you may supect that I would be upset at hearing the Dark Lord spoaken to in such tones, I do not share Lucius' view of him. I may bare the mark but I am not a complete slave to it." Snape said and stood from the couch to pace the room.

"What should we do about this sir?" Draco asked him curiously. "She will have to still play the part that she has for so many years. If she stopped the Dark Lord and his followers would notice and come to investigate." He also rose and paced the room leaving the two women to sit on the couch and think. Gabrielle thought of the situation and Narcissa thought on the behavior of those in the room. She had definitely not thought they would help her, especially Severus who was a known Death Eater.

"Narcissa you are going to have to fake being upset about your husbands death. It would be best if you seem too upset to speak with anyone. Stay near Draco at the service or if you speak with anyone make sure you don't let anything slip. If the Dark Lord found out that people could be so easily controlled with a potion none of us would be safe ever again. He would start by feeding it to those he wanted to control and with his crazy ambition he could soon control the entire country." Snape said, still pacing. "I need access to his personal lab so I can find a sample of the potion and destroy all evidence of the rest."

Narcissa snapped her fingers and an elderly but regal looking elf appeared. "Show Professor Snape to Lucius' private lab," she told the elf.

"No one is allowed in master's lab. You do not have the authority to command me." The elf said with an air of importance that could only have been learned from a Malfoy.

"You will respect my mother or you will be given clothes," Draco sneered at his father's personal elf. "Voltin, you will take the Potions Master to my father's lab now. I am now the master of this house and you will obey me. As soon as you do that gather the rest of the elves and bring them to the ballroom where I wish to speak with them all."

"Yes master," the elf said looking sad that he had to take Snape to Lucius' private hideaway.

"Are you sure we can trust him?" His mother whispered once Snape was out of hearing range.

"Yes mother," Draco told her as he took her hand. "I would trust him with my life."

Lucius' private lab was impressive. Even more impressive than his own lab at school. But then Lucius didn't have Dumbledore looking over his shoulder and could brew as many questionable and dark potions as he wished. Lucius had copius notes on the Imperio Potion as he called it. "How Original," Snape thought sardonically. The potion was one he had obviously been working on since he was quite young. The original notes looked to be those of his father who had been a potions master. That would explain how Lucius figured out such a complicated brew.

Snape found a box of vials of the potion and shrunk them to take back for testing. He also shrunk all the notes and took those as well. What he found the most interesting is the notes on the antidote potion for incase he was accidentally slipped it or if there was an accident in the lab. Snape hoped the potion would help counteract the actuall Imperius curse. Snape then cleaned the lab of any traces of the potion and checked the desk for any other notes.

When he came across a warded cabinet in the corner he knew there was something good in it. The lab was completely hidden and surrounded with impenetrable wards, why would he then need a warded cabinet? The lab was so hidden there was no way to know it existed if you weren't told about it. He finally broke the wards after 10 minuites of 'foolish wandwaving' and was rewarded for his effort. It seemed like the complete history of the death eaters was in front of him. There were complete lists of members. There were financial records of bribes at the ministry including contact information on the bribed official and other information suitable for blackmail. There were biographies of every death eater some with the number of committed kills, rapes and tortures. This was the key to the undoing of the death eaters. Lucius even had spyware in the ministry that automatically updated the information.

Sanpe was happy to see that his file was void of any suspissions of his loyalty. In fact it seemed that the Dark Lord tourtured him so much not because he didn't trust him but because he worked for Dumbledore. There were even files on those individuals that the death eaters were hoping to recruit. The only name that surprised him was Percy Weasley. The fact that Fudge was on the death eater payroll didn't surprise him but he didn't think they would be interested in a Weasley. It seems as if Percy wasn't taking the estrangement from his family well. There were recorded conversations between him and Pemelope Clearwater, who was his girlfriend, where Percy lamented that he was too proud to admit he was wrong nad if his family didn't want him back it was fine with him and he would build a new family. That was the approach the death eaters were taking. One of the mid level members had befriended Percy at work and the two had fast become friends. They expected Percy to be ready to join in two months time. He would have to have Albus talk with that boy!

Voltin the house elf appeared after an hour to inform him that the funeral guests were to arrive shortly and his presense was requested by master Draco. Snape re-warded the cabinet to be safe from curious house elves and only able to be opened by him, Draco and Dumbledore. He needed to keep the information there so it would automaticly update but he didn't want anyone else to stumble upon it.

The funeral guests started arriving shortly after Snape returned to the parlor. Draco had finished addressing the house elves and they were all aware that he was the master of the house now and that in his absence that his mother was in charge. He also demoted Voltin to a regular house elf and promoted Slink to head elf. Slink was Draco's elf and had always done as Draco said, he had not been corrupted by Lucius.

The funeral was a small affair. Few people attended the funeral of a death eater, even if it was for a Malfoy. Arthur Weasley showed much to the surprise of all the other guests. "Minister, thatnk you for coming," Draco said solemnly. He was playing the depressed son very well and Narcissa was playing it up as well by hanging on her son's arm as if she would faint if she let go. Gabrielle just nodded to each guest or shook the hands of those who offered, she was standing on the other side of Draco.

"I am very sorry for your loss Mr. Malfoy. Although your father and I did not get along I wanted to assure you that I do not hold you or the rest of your family responsible for his actions." Arthur told Draco as the shook hands and Arthur went off to see if he recognized anyone there. He was going to see just who was on the Malfoy payroll.

Half an hour into the service a frazzled looking messenger from the ministry came running in and up to the minister. "Hogsmead is under attack by death eaters! The aurors have been dispatched but we have not heard any more news." This announcement was met with mixed emotions by the present crowd. Gabrielle gasped and clutched onto Draco who had enough practice schooling his features that he didn't give away his shock and sadness. He wondered how many of his new friends he would loose in the attack.

Many of the dark side sympathizers were trying to mask their smirks and smiles while thse loyal to the ministry were in shock and dismay at the next comment of the messagnger. "It's a Hogsmead weekend for the students sir!" Arthur was out of his seat and half-way to the door after that as well as the other ministry officials present.

Snape had been wondering why more of the death eaters had failed to show up to the funeral. He also wondered why he was not informed of the attack and hoped the Dark Lord did not suspect him, but most of all he hoped the students were safe. He knew none of the residents of the town would defend the students and the younger ones would be lambs to the slaughter.

Draco told the official to quickly finish the service so they could get to the graveyard. 10 minuites later they had Lucius Malfoy in the ground and informed the guests that the luncheon was canceled in light of the new circumstances. The Malfoys, Snape and Gabrielle were the only ones to return to the manor. "I should have known they wouldn't just stand by when one of the inner circle was murdered," Snape said. "I just don't know why they didn't summon me as well. It doesn't make sense. I haven't done anything to fall out of favor."

"Perhaps it was because you were my escort sir and they wanted to keep both of us out of it so we wouldn't be suspected. I'm sure the Dark Lord would not want you to loose Dumbledore's faith in you by having you attack your own students." Draco told him as they sat in the parlor.

"The floo connection is secure, you can contact Hogwarts from here if you like." Narcissa said as she put her arm around Gabrielle who was trembling. "It'll be allright dear. I'm sure your friends are fine."

Suddenly Snape's mark began to burn. "I'm being summoned," he told them as he transfigured his robes and took a coaster from the table and transfigured it to the mask. "You two stay here. Do not allow any visitors unless they are one of the professors or a Weasley." He then ran to the door to apparate to the Dark Lord's side.

He arrived in an abandoned barn to see the Dark Lord standing in front of him with Wormtail at his side. Snape bowed to the ground and kissed his 'master's' robes. "Rise my son, soon you will take your place at my side alone with the rest of my most faithfull. My faithfull servants are attacking the village of Hogsmead as we speak. They will bring me the Potter boy and we will finish him once and for all. What say you of that my son?" Voldemort asked in an almost tender way.

Snape was concerned, Voldemort had called him his son twice and was asking for his opinon. This was a totally new experience for him and it made him weary. He made sure his barriers were up and he was only allowing proper dark thoughts in his head. "You victory is at hand my lord, what may I do to serve you?" Snape asked hoping to avoid crucio for once and really hoping he wouldn't be killed.

"I wish you to take Lucius' place in my inner circle my son. I know how anxious you are to serve me but I could not have you discovered at the attack on the village. I am happy you escprted the young Malfoy. That old fool Dumbledore will never suspect you to be one of my servants if you have an alibi for the time of the attack. Your new place in the circle is at my left side. Rise Severus and we will wait together for their return." Voldemort told him. Severus was trying his best not to shake. He had never heard the man talk that much without cursing something. He dared a look at Wormtail who seemed upset about the preferential treatment Snape was getting.

They had stood for less than 5 minuites when death eaters started appearing. Snape could tell the battle had gone poorly as they were all hesitant to step forward and a few were being supported by others. Finally a low ranking death eater came forward and laid completely prostrate before Voldemort. "Forgive me my lord but I have failed you. We were unable to capture Potter or the two girls. They fought us." The death eater stopped talking and started screaming as he was hit with a crucio from Voldemort's wand.

"What happened?" He hissed dangerously peering at the rest of his followers and demanding they show their respect and answer his question.

"My lord," Another death eater said from his bowing position on the ground. "Potter and his friends countered our attack. The 5th, 6th, and 7th years from the other houses banded together to protect the younger students. They gathered them all into the Three Broomsticks and erected an impenetrable shield. Potter and a group of his friends fought us until the aurors arrived. They stunned and bound many of us and only a few of us were able to get away and back to you my lord. Please forgive me for my failure." Severus finally recognized the boy as Clayton Bagman the 7th year Slytherin that was defeated by Neville Longbottom in the dueling competition and the young cousin of Ludo Bagman the former head of Magical Games and Sports at the ministry.

Voldemort tortured each remaining death eater while trying to determine who was left of his circle. Snape realized that the Lestranges had not returned as well as McNair, Avery, Nott, Crabbe and Goyle. If Snape was figuring correctly the only members of the inner circle left were Wormtail and himself. Voldemort turned to him, "Severus my son, you must return and see young Malfoy back to school. Find out what you can about the attack." He then touched Snape's mark and it was all he could do not to yell out in pain as the touch scoarched his skin. "You will be able to apparate to my side without being summoned now. Return to me when you have information about the attack." With that Snape apparated back to Malfoy manor to take Draco and Gabrielle back to Hogwarts.

Chapter 38: After the Attack

Snape brought the two students to his classroom and told them to wait for him there while he went to talk to the headmaster. Snape was not surprised to find many members of the order in Dumbledore's office. "Severus, tell us what you know of this attack." The headmaster asked skipping the usual pleasantries.

"I was not informed of the attack before it commenced. I heard of it when a message came for Arthur during the service. I was summoned shortly after returning to Malfoy manor. The Dark Lord informed me that he had not told me of the attack so that I could not be suspected. He then gave me Malfoy's spot in the inner circle. That means I am at his immediate left. The remaining death eaters returned shortly after and he was most displeased to be informed of their defeat. He gave everyone other than Wormtail and myself crucio to punish them. He then assigned me the task of finding out what transpired in Hogsmead and I am to return to him as soon as I have gathered all the information." Snape finished and then took his customary seat. "Please tell me what happened sir, from what I gathered the students protected themselves with a shield and Potter and company fought back."

"Yes, it seams that Miss Weasley had a vision of this while eating lunch. She contacted me by floo shortly before the battle but not with enough warning to get help there in time. I feared the worst as the staff and I hurried to town. We arrived to see the younger students ensconced at the Three Broomsticks with the members of the DA protecting them with a very strong shield. They combined their power to reinforce the magic of the shield and the death eaters could not break through." Snape raised his eyebrow at the impressive use of magic the students had shown.

"Harry and his Elite DA or EDA as they are now called launched a counter attack on the death eaters." Dumbledore said, "They stunned as many of them as they could and bound them with anti-apparation ropes. When we arrived they had already taken down over 35 death eaters. We arrived at the same time as the Aurors and the rest of the death eaters apparated away. That is the gist of the battle."

"Students took out 35 death eaters?" Severus asked unsuccessfully masking his shock. "How many of them fought back?"

"Actually they took out 37 of the bastards," Moody growled from the other side of the room. "I always knew that Potter kid was going to be great like his father."

"The EDA is made up of 11 members, 10 of them were present for the confrontation." Remus told him with a smug smile on his face at how advanced his son and students were.

"Who are these students and was anyone hurt?" Snape asked floored.

"The students were Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, the Creevy brothers, Justin Flinch-Fletchly and Hannah Abbot. No students were hurt and most of the death eaters were only stunned. Unfortunately one of the death eaters was killed. Bellatrix Lestrange was killed when she attempted to kill Harry. It seams the other students saw what she was about to attempt as well and they all cast stunning spells at her. I don't think I have to tell you what happens if someone gets hit with 10 stunners at once." Dumbledore told him.

The meeting went on for another hour until everyone else left. Snape then told Dumbledore of his finds in Malfoy manor and how he was now able to apparate to the Dark Lord's side without being summoned. Dumbledore was pleased with the news and sent him to report what happened back to Voldemort. They decided to mention everything to the Dark Lord so he would not become suspicious since it would all come to light within a few days. The only fact remaining hidden is the existence of the EDA. Snape was even supposed to tell Voldemort what DA stood for. Dumbledore chuckled at how Snape paled at the thought of having to tell the Dark Lord that Potter named his defense group Dumbledore's Army.

Snape escorted Malfoy and Gabrielle back to their common room and told them to keep to themselves the next few days until things calmed down. Then he left to join Voldemort and prayed he wouldn't get tortured for the idiocy of the other death eaters. He was not looking forward to telling of Bella's death, the Dark Lord had taken quite a liking to her in the past year.

The next day was crazy for Harry and his friends. They were being hounded by the younger students who wanted to thank them, get their autograph and ask how many death eaters they took out. Neville was the first to crack. At lunch after the 10th person came and asked how many death eaters he took out he put his head in his hands and sighed. He looked over at Harry, "How can you handle it man? They are driving me crazy and this is only one day! How did you manage this your whole life?"

Harry chuckled at his friend. "Well I didn't know I was a wizard until I was 11 so that helped and then I had all you guys to help keep me sane. Plus I always had to go back to my aunt and uncles and they make my life miserable. When you live at Privet Drive for that long, a few fans is easy to handle. Plus I hide when they get to be too much, just ask Ron and Hermione." Harry laughed at his friend again.

"Come on lets get out of here," Hermione added. "We can go hide the common room!" She said loudly then whispered to each that they would sneak off to the Room of Requirement. Ginny went over to tell the others where to meet and they left for Gryffindor tower to grab their invisibility cloaks and the map. Ginny lent her cloak to Neville and shared with Harry. Hermione lent hers to Colin and Dennis and shared with Ron so they could all sneak out without being noticed.

Draco and Gabrielle were already there when the Gryffindors arrived. Ginny ran up and gave Draco a hug and inquired to how he was feeling after the funeral. "I'm doing really well. As it turns out my mother is not and never was a supporter of the dark lord. My father used potions to control her all these years. She is finally free of his influence. She even begged me not to join the death eaters." He told them all.

"That's great Draco; maybe with both of you on our side we can keep your secret a little longer." Hermione added with a smile. "We are all very sorry that you had to loose your father, even if he was on the wrong side it's still got to hurt."

Harry sighed in relief as he sunk down into one of the overstuffed couches in the room. "I as so glad we found this room last year. If I had one more person asks for my autograph today I might crack."

"Too late for that," Ginny giggled as she sat next to him on the couch. The room was set up nicely. It had three long overstuffed couches all facing each other in an odd triangle as well as a table of snacks and what looked like a muggle refrigerator full of drinks. There was a set of shelves with some books and games on it as well.

"Hey 'Moine get me a butterbeer will ya," Ron shouted out as he slumped down on the couch next to his sister.

"Get it yourself you lazy prat," Hermione answered as she grabbed butterbeers for herself, Harry and Ginny. "I'm not your slave." She handed the drinks to the couple and settled down next to Ron.

"What got you all riled up?" Harry asked her with a grin. "He usually has to insult your study habits or your favorite book for you to call him a prat." The room laughed as Ron turned red from embarrassment and Hermione snorted trying not to laugh as well.

"Let's play a game," Hannah suggested.

"We could play truth or dare again, or I never or something," Dennis offered as he got up to go look at the games on the shelf. He pulled down a box called "Party Starters" and brought it over. "This says it's a game of questions to let people get to know you better. What do you guys think?" He asked as he pulled out three decks of cards. The cards all had questions on them. Each card had 3 questions and the person asking got to pick which question to ask.

"Sounds good enough to me," Neville added. "We should all promise to tell the truth no matter what."

"I have a better idea," Ginny added while she shut her eyes and thought really hard. When she opened her eyes there was a bag of sweets in front of her. "Man I love this room! These are one of Fred and George's inventions, Truth Lollies. They have a mild truth serum in them. You can only tell the truth for 5 minutes after every lick. Plus you don't have to tell the entire truth and can choose not to answer, so it's not like there's anything to loose. You can still spin your answers as long as they are truthful."

"You spend way too much time around those two!" Ron told her. "They have corrupted your sweet innocent mind."

"Oh shut it Ron, I haven't been all that sweet and innocent since I was 9." She laughed at her brother and handed out the sweets. "Dennis you get to ask the first question since you found the game. Everyone took a lick of their lollipop and waited for the first question, hoping they were rather tame.

"I'll start out easy. What's your favorite color?" Dennis asked with a smile.

Colin and Neville liked red, Luna liked orange, and Hermione and Ron were blue. Ginny tried to say blue a few times to see if she could lie.

"Purple, wow these candies do work. I tried to say blue but it wouldn't let me lie." She told them with a smile. Harry and Draco both liked green. Gabrielle liked silver. Hannah liked pink and Justin liked yellow.

Colin asked next, "What color underwear are you wearing?" He asked laughing. They went around the room but the best answer was Draco who was wearing green boxers with gold snitches.

Luna asked next, "Who is your best friend?" She looked over to the Gryffindor trio who all looked nervous about having to pick a singular best friend. Neville looked shyly at the ground before answering Hermione. She smiled and squeezed his hand before answering Ginny which caused both boys to look at her funny and Ginny to giggle. Ron and Harry answered each other and Ginny answered Bill. Gabrielle answered Draco and Draco answered Ginny. Hannah and Justin blushed as they answered each other. Dennis and Colin also answered each other.

Neville asked, "If you could only have one hobby for the rest of your life what would it be?" Hermione smiled big before answering reading and making everyone laugh.

Ron was torn between Quidditch and Chess. "I think I'll have to go with Wizard's chess even though I love Quidditch I will eventually be too old to play it, but even Dumbledore can play chess." He told them with a smile. Ginny blushed with embarrassment as she said she would want to be able to brew potions. Harry and Draco both said Quidditch. Gabrielle smiled at Hermione as she answered reading as well. Making Hermione look at the girl with even more respect. Hannah said gardening and Justin said making models. Dennis said painting and Colin unsurprisingly said photography. Luna told them all that she liked to write both stories and articles.

Hermione was next and pulled out a different color card and blushed. All three questions were sexual in nature. She decided on the easiest question, "Who was the first person you ever kissed that wasn't family." Ron turned away from Hermione and mumbled Susan Bones which made the other three on the couch gasp and Hermione to look murderous. "So you lied to me when you said I was your first kiss? Why would you do that?" She said the hurt obvious in her voice.

"It was in third year when we weren't speaking because I thought Crookshanks ate Scabbers. She came up to tell me that she was sorry that I lost my pet and she went to kiss my cheek I think and I didn't realized what was going on and turned to look at her and she kissed my mouth instead. We were both really embarrassed and haven't mentioned it since to anyone since it was an accident. I'm sorry I should have told you." He told her as the room watched in silence waiting for Hermione's feared temper to flair up.

"No more lies Ron," Hermione told him seriously. "I won't let you get away with any more. We are best friends and you lied to me and Harry and even Ginny. If there is anything else you lied about you better tell me soon before I find out on my own." She said then plastered a fake smile on her face and turned to Ginny. "It's your turn Ginny."

"I hate my first kiss," She spat. "Tom kissed me when I was in the diary. But if you are talking about real kisses my first real kiss was Harry." She smiled and snuggled into Harry as he told them all his first kiss was Cho, which most everyone already knew.

Gabrielle said her first kiss was Draco that day in the Great Hall. He grinned, liking the fact that he was the only one she'd ever be with. He told them his first kiss was Pansy even though he pushed her off of him right after and tried to wash his mouth out with soap. Everyone laughed at that.

Hannah, Justin, and Dennis haven't kissed anyone yet. "What are you waiting for Justin? Kiss the girl, she likes you, you like her, what's the hold up?" Draco asked with a smirk watching the two blush. His only response was a smack on the arm from Gabrielle.

Colin's first kiss was a neighbor girl named Sarah Addams. Luna smiled and looked at Neville before saying he was her first kiss. Neville responded that she was his as well. Hermione smiled; at the beginning of the year when they had played a similar game Neville had never been kissed. She was happy for him.

Ron pulled out a card with a wicked grin. "Who was the worst person you ever had a crush on?" Ginny answered Tom Riddle which made both Harry and Draco cringe. Harry answered Cho and Gabrielle answered Harry. She smiled and said she though he was cute after he rescued her from the mermaids. Draco answered Amanda since she never existed and turned out to be his cousin. Hannah answered Professor Lupin in 3rd year making Harry chuckle that a girl had a crush on his dad. Justin answered Fleur during the tri-wizard tournament. Dennis laughed as he said Tonks and that he still had the crush. Colin looked at the floor as he answered Ginny; he wasn't going to look at Harry after admitting that. Luna answered Professor Lockhart while they all laughed and Hermione, Ginny and Hannah all admitted to their crushes on their old professor as well. Neville blushed as he answered Professor Sprout making everyone laugh. Hermione took a long time to answer and finally she looked to Harry apologetically before answering Sirius Black. Ron looked upset at that thought but Harry just smiled and winked. He knew his godfather was a charmer, so it wasn't her fault that she fell for it.

Ginny asked them what their dream job would be. Harry and Draco both said professional Quidditch. Gabrielle said she wanted to be a mother, which shocked those who thought she was a walking brain like Hermione. Hannah wants to be a healer and Justin an architect. Dennis dreams of being a professional artist and Colin a professional photographer. Luna wants to be an investigative reporter and Neville a botanist. Hermione just shrugged. "I think my dream job would be a researcher. Where someone pays me to research different topics and do experiments." Ron also wanted to be a professional Quidditch player only he wants to play for the Cannons only.

Harry asked them all what their greatest fear was. Gabrielle said it was being assaulted by someone who felt her Veela charms and wouldn't take no for an answer. The other girls could all understand this fear. Draco told them it was turning out like his father. Hannah was afraid of drowning while Justin was afraid of being burned alive. Dennis was afraid he would have to leave Hogwarts without graduating. Colin was afraid of basilisks after being petrified in his 1st year. Luna was afraid of heights. Neville told them that Snape was no longer his greatest fear and that he feared his parents would be taken from him again. Hermione gave him a hug before saying that her greatest fear was failure. That she worked so hard all the time and she feared it wouldn't be enough. Ron said he was still deathly afraid of spiders, especially the acromantula variety. Ginny said her greatest fear was watching someone she loved die and not being able to do anything about it. She told them she had dreams like this and Harry hugged her close.

Gabrielle laughed and read her question, "Describe your perfect mate." Draco's dream girl had long blonde hair and pale eyes. She was from a good family and was gentile and loving and wanted a family. She had to be intelligent and not on the dark side. When it finally got around to Hermione she was nervous about her answer since her dream guy was nothing like Ron.

"My perfect mate would be tall with dark eyes and long dark hair I could run my fingers through. He would be incredibly intelligent and we would be able to discuss all my theories and literature. He would be somewhat athletic but not obsessed with Quidditch. He would have the ability to calm and sooth me with his deep voice and wouldn't care if I was never ready to have a family. He would support me in any career path I choose and have a sense of humor." Hermione finished. She had been having dreams of this man since she was 9 and knew she would never likely find him.

Ron wasn't all that upset about her description owing to his own dream girl. "My dream girl would have blonde or red hair and a smiling face. She would like playing chess with me and we would talk about Quidditch. She would want to stay at home with a large family and would be a great cook. She would be friendly and funny yet able to keep things calm and orderly."

Ginny looked at her two friends in wonderment as they described their perfect mates to be almost the complete opposite of each other. Did they realize how far off from what they wanted the other was? "I've only ever wanted Harry, ever since I saw him boarding the train his 1st year. He is my perfect mate." Ginny told them all making Ron stiffen as he realized just how close his sister and best friend were. Harry also told them that he had found the perfect woman in Ginny.

Draco smirked as he read the question. "If you were stranded at sea with only one person and it had to be someone who was once or is your teacher, instructor, or superior at work, who would you choose to be stuck with? This also says eventually you'll be rescued and that you have anything you could want to pass the time."

Hannah answered Madame Pomfrey since they got along well since she wants to be a healer. Justin answered Professor Vector since that was his favorite class. Dennis said his primary school art teacher and Colin said Dumbledore would be fascinating to be able to talk to. Luna said Firenze since she liked centaurs. Neville said Professor Sprout since they could tend plants. Hermione tried to say McGonagall but it wouldn't come out. She tried a few other professors; she really hated the truth lollies. "You have to answer with the truth Hermione," Ginny giggled. "Come on it can't be that bad."

Hermione mumbled an answer that only Neville seemed to hear. He turned pale and looked at her wide eyed. "You have to say it louder Hermione," Justin told her wondering what could be that bad to make Neville pale and shaky.

"Fine," She sighed. "I would choose Professor Snape." She said as they all gasped or sputtered. "I think he is fascinating and if we were stuck together maybe he would actually talk to me and answer my questions instead of sneering and taking points."

"I think you're bloody out of your mind, but no worries I'd choose Hooch so she could give me Quidditch pointers." Ron told her. Ginny said she would choose Tonks since she was fun to be around and Harry chose Lupin since he loved his dad. Gabrielle said she would probably choose Dumbledore since he could tell her so many things.

Hannah didn't have a chance to read her question since Professor Dumbledore chose to join them at that moment. "Good evening everyone!" He said cheerily. "I see all the members of EDA are here, how wonderful."

"Hello Professor," Harry said wondering why the eccentric old man chose to interrupt them.

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop on your little game," he winked at Gabrielle. "I just wanted to tell you all that there will be a special table set up right below the head table at the feast for the 10 of you. I'm sorry that Mr. Malfoy and Miss Delacour will have to remain anonymous members of the DA, don't want any rumors getting out." He said to them. "I want all of you to know how proud I am of you. It's getting close to curfew so you should be heading back to your common rooms. Colin, Dennis, Hannah and Justin could you head back first. I need to speak with the others for a moment please." He said as the four left with a shrug. They could never figure out Dumbledore.

"I wanted to speak to you about the Order," he told them as they all understood why the others were asked to leave. "I have spoken with the other members and we feel it is only right to initiate the rest of you into the Order if you so choose. So Neville, Luna, Draco and Gabrielle I need to know if you are willing to join." They all agreed. "You already know the location of headquarters and most of the members so there is really only the formality of initiation. Your families have already given permission." The others smiled and they all took an oath to protect the muggle and magical community from evil forces to the best of their ability. To search out, capture and hinder all death eaters and followers of Voldemort. To maintain secrecy for all maters discussed within the Order. Then they were official members they all shook hands with the others who had already been members.

"There will be an Order meeting in the staff room after the feast and dance on Saturday. Go straight there when it is over." Dumbledore told them and left with a wink at Hermione this time.

"I'm never sure what he is up to," She mumbled as they all headed back to their common rooms.

Chapter 39: Hero's Ball

The week passed quickly for the group of friends. The ball and feast were later that night and the girls were all getting ready. "I thought this was an informal ball, why do they need 3 hours to get ready?" Ron asked Harry later in the common room. Ron was wearing his favorite set of robes that were a midnight blue, almost black that were tailored exactly for him to show off his muscles from Quidditch. He was happy they were no longer poor. Harry had on his garnet colored robes with the Potter crest on them. He liked that it showed his Gryffindor spirit without being too bright in color.

The girls were all giggling and trying to decide which robes to wear. Hannah, Luna and Gabrielle were all huddled in the prefect girls' dorm with Ginny, Hermione, Lavender and Pavarti. Pavarti was wearing bright rose colored robes and Lavender was in a pale yellow. They were going to the dance with Dean and Seamus. Hannah was wearing pale pink robes since pink was her favorite color. She even had a string of pink pearls that her mother had given her for her 16th birthday. She was meeting Justin at the dance but they were still not a couple, yet. Gabrielle looked wonderful in an iridescent teal green robe. It complimented her silver hair wonderfully and was just close enough to Slytherin green that her housemates would be proud.

Luna was wearing bright orange robes with yellow suns, moons and stars embroidered on them. She also had yellow feather earrings, making her look just strange enough to be normal for her. Neville had gotten up his courage and asked her to the dance. Hermione was in the same gold robes she had worn to Mr. Weasley's inauguration and she even wore the necklace Harry had given her, except she kept her clothes under the robes much more casual. Ginny had pulled everything out of her closet trying to decide what to wear under her robes. She was going to wear her purple silk robes that she wore to her dad's inauguration and was going to wear her beautiful purple jewelry but she needed a casual outfit to go with it.

"Ginny why don't you wear this?" Hannah asked pulling out a simple ivory sheath dress from the stack of clothes. It had a scoop neckline that would work well with her necklace. "I know it's not quite casual but it's not too dressy either." The girls put the finishing touches on their hair and make-up and made their way down to the common room.

"You ladies look magnificent," Harry said with a smile as they emerged from the room. Lavender and Pavarti giggled and made their way out the portrait hole to meet Dean and Seamus in the great hall. Harry offered Ginny his arm as soon as Neville joined the group wearing Gryffindor red robes and they all made their way down to the feast.

"You look very pretty tonight Hermione," Ron told her as he offered his arm. He was trying hard to be a gentleman.

"Thank you Ron," She smiled and took his arm as they followed the others out the portrait hole. "Who all do you think is going to be at the ball? Professor Dumbledore said there would be some Ministry guests at the ball tonight." Ron shrugged and opened the doors to the Great Hall for her.

The group made their way to the Gryffindor table for the feast. The great hall was decorated in the house colors of each house. There were house banners above each table and the Hogwarts crest above the teachers table. The teachers table had been extended as well as a small platform set in front of it. There were around 10 ministry members in attendance from the looks of things at the head table. Arthur Weasley was smiling around at everyone from his seat next to Dumbledore. There were others that Harry recognized including Madame Bones from his 'trial' before 5th year and the head auror. Ron pointed out the head of magical law enforcement and the witch that had taken over Crouch's job as head of international magical cooperation. In all it looked like most of the head people from the ministry were present. Ginny pointed out the photographer and the reporters in the back corner of the hall as well.

"I guess this is a big event," Hermione said as the others shrugged. They were all wondering why the top levels of the ministry were present. "I bet they are going to be taking our pictures for the Daily Prophet."

"I hate being in the paper." Harry complained. He watched Tonks introduce Remus to the ministry members they were sitting near. He smiled as he thought of how she was soon to be his mum.

Ron wasn't as curious as the rest. He just wanted the feast to start. "I wish they would hurry up, I'm starving!" The rest all laughed and Hermione just rolled her eyes at his never ending quest to fill his stomach. He didn't have to wait long though as Dumbledore stood to speak.

"Welcome students, staff and guests. We have the great privilege tonight to have several members of the ministry of magic in attendance along with Minister Weasley. We have some business to attend to before we get to our great feast. I will allow the minister to tell you of the reason of their visit," He said as he bowed to Arthur who stood and went to the small platform. The students all clapped politely.

"Thank you. It is a great pleasure for me to be here tonight. We are here to honor those of you who stood up for your beliefs and protected your fellow students and the residents of Hogsmead from those dark individuals who are bent on destroying this school and our current way of life." Arthur paused to wait for the applause to die down.

"I first would like all members of the DA that protected the younger students in the Three Broomsticks to stand and be recognized for your valiant efforts." He said as they slowly stood and the rest applauded them. "We at the ministry want to extend our deep thanks for your quick thinking under pressure. We expect to hear great things of you in the years to come and hope many of you will come to work for the ministry."

Arthur then nodded to the other ministry members who stood and joined him on the platform along with Dumbledore. "Now it is my great pleasure to honor those 10 students who risked their lives to protect the rest of you. Will those 10 please come forward?" The smile on Mr. Weasley's face was huge as they all approached. Ginny knew there was something good about to happen with how happy her father was.

"It is now my honor and duty acting on behalf of the Ministry of Magic to present the Order of Merlin 3rd Class to the following individuals." He said as the students gasped and then started to cheer. No one under the age of 18 had ever won an Order of Merlin before. There were 3 classes of the award. 1st, 2nd and 3rd with 1st being the most prestigious and then down from there.

Arthur then took a medal from Madame Bones and called Hannah forward followed by Colin then Dennis and finally Justin. "You four have shown great bravery and loyalty. You have proven that you are the elite among wizards, even at your young age. Thank you for your sacrifice and integrity." The four each had a medal hung around their necks and shook hands with each of the ministry officials while the photographer took multiple photos and the reporters quill was going furiously. "As many of you are aware, we do not just hand out the Orders of Merlin. These were all voted upon by the Wizegammot and the heads of each department within the ministry. With that being said I have a few more honors to hand out."

The hall was all waiting to see what kind of honor Harry and his friends would be receiving. "It is my most special and privileged honor to be able to present the Order of Merlin 2nd class to these following individuals who have in their young ages already tried to thwart the death eaters in two battles starting with the most intelligent witch it has ever been my privilege of knowing, Miss Hermione Granger." The hall cheered and hollered as she was presented with her medal and even hugged by the minister and Dumbledore. The teachers were all standing and McGonagall was crying she was so proud of her students.

"The next award is for a young man who has over come many hardships in his young life. It is my pleasure to present this Order of Merlin 2nd class to the fiercely loyal Neville Longbottom." Neville looked shocked at the cheers for him as he was presented with his medal. Luna received her medal next and the Ravenclaws were ecstatic that they had her in their house. They had finally stopped picking on her and were finally realizing what an asset she was.

"I have had the privilege of knowing the next young man for nearly 6 years. His fight against the dark is legend. He is pure of heart and one of the bravest souls I have ever met. His sheer determination is the reason the DA club was such a success. It is my greatest honor to present the Order of Merlin 2nd class to Harry Potter." The sound in the hall was almost deafening the cheers and applause was so loud. Remus was grinning and cheering while hugging Tonks who was crying with happiness. Even most of the Slytherins were clapping.

"I never thought when I took the position as Minister that I would be in the position to honor my own family, but here we are. My youngest child and only daughter is a strong and determined witch. She has always stood up for what she believed in and it is now my special pleasure to award Ginny Weasley with the order of Merlin 2nd class." Arthur was choked up as he wrapped his arms around his baby after placing the medal over her head and she whispered 'I love you daddy' in his ear before shaking everyone else's hand.

"The last honor to present is another of my children. My youngest son is a loyal friend and brilliant strategist. It was his strategy to divide the DA group to be both on the offensive and defensive. It is my most special honor to present Ronald Weasley with the Order of Merlin 2nd class." Ron grinned and hugged his father as he was presented with the award.

"These 6 heroes fought at the end of last year against death eaters and the Dark

Lord himself in the heart of the ministry of magic. Although the powers of the time were unable to award their efforts it is now my pleasure to be able to do so. These six have show the heart and ability better than many fully qualified witches and wizards. Together with the other four award winners they have shown unswerving loyalty and determination. For these acts, those of us at the ministry have thus awarded them the status of fully qualified witch and wizard. They have demonstrated the heart to protect and now they have the ability. They will of course continue their educations, but they no longer are bound by the decree for the restriction of underage wizardry. Let us one again put our hands together for the 10 heroes of Hogwarts." Arthur finished as the hall broke into applause again.

Dumbledore then stepped forward again. "I have never been more proud of my students than I am at this moment. Let us begin the feast!" With that announcement the tables filled with food and they all dug in.

"Order of Merlin, I never anticipated this," Neville told them after they had sat back down. "I can't wait to tell my mum and dad! Can you even believe it?" He was as excited as the rest of them.

"Hey Dennis do you realize you are the youngest ever person to receive an Order of Merlin?" Hermione asked him with a big smile on her face. "Until we all just got them, no one under 18 has ever received one before. They are the largest honor in the wizarding world." Dennis was younger than them, only being a 3rd year and it was surprising he was even able to do half the spells they learned in DA. He was definitely a prodigy.

The feast was over quickly in their eyes as they were all still on cloud 9 from receiving their awards. The dance started right after. Dumbledore replaced the long house tables with smaller round tables around the perimeter of the room leaving the center open for dancing. The photographer and reporter hurried over to Harry and the group to get interviews and group shots of the medal winners. Dennis blushed as the reporter asked him how it felt to be the youngest ever winner.

Tonks and Remus came up and hugged Harry telling him how proud of him they were. All the teachers shook each of their hands and gave their congratulations. Snape came up and offered his hand to Harry. "It is a well deserved honor Mr. Potter, congratulations," he said and Harry smiled at the compliment from Snape and shook his hand. The head auror and the head of magical law enforcement came up to Harry to offer their best as well.

"It is an honor to meet you," Harry told the head of MLE as well as shook hands with the head auror.

"I hear you are interested in becoming an auror," the head of MLE said. "You would be the 4th generation of Potters if that is what you choose to do."

"Yes, that is one of the only career fields I am interested in. I have the necessary OWLs and am taking NEWT level classes in the required areas." Harry told the man, making sure he was on his best behavior.

"Assuming you pass those NEWTs I would like to make you a preliminary offer. We will hold your spot in training once you complete your Hogwarts education and look forward to having another Potter on our team." The man told him as Harry grinned, this man obviously had no idea he was already receiving training from qualified aurors.

"Keep up the good work Mr. Potter," The head auror said as the two went to speak with another ministry official. Harry couldn't believe how great his day was going.

Hermione was being dragged from official to official by Ginny who seemed to know each of them. She was most impressed with Madame Bones. "I hear you had the highest score on your OWLs." Madame Bones told her.

"In all but astronomy and I do not take Divination or Muggle Studies," Hermione replied politely.

"With marks like that you are well on your way to becoming a member of the Wizegammot yourself," Bones told her. "We need intelligent and strong witches like you. I heard of your house elf campaign from Arthur and of your research for Hagrid. Most impressive I must say."

"Thank you madam. I am honored you believe me to be worthy of such a position." Hermione said the spark evident in her eyes at the thought.

"What are your plans after Hogwarts?" Bones asked her.

"Magical University to receive a mastery in Transfiguration as well as Potions with an emphasis in spell creation as well." Hermione told her with a smile. "I know it is overly ambitious to try for two masters, but I can't choose between the two for the life of me."

"I look forward to hearing about your successes in the future," Bones said as she departed. Hermione was all smiles.

"Congratulations on your Order of Merlin Miss Granger," Professor Snape said from behind her startling her out of her day dream.

"Thank you sir," she responded. She was about to make another comment when he grimaced and grabbed his left forearm. Her eyes got wide as she realized he was being called to Voldemort. He nodded at her and hurried off to find Dumbledore. Before she had time to think there was a commotion in the corner of the room. She turned to see several Slytherins with their wands drawn on three 7th year Slytherins who where on their knees and clutching their arms as well.

The younger Slytherins were quickly joined by some of the DA members as the ministry officials hurried over to see what the ruckus was about. Dumbledore looked somber and the twinkle was gone from his eyes as he realized that he had lost at least those 3 students to the dark. The rumble went through the students that the three had the dark mark. Tonks and the head auror bound the three students after baring their arms to reveal the ugly black tattoo.

The boy that was the 7th year boys dueling champion was not going to go down quietly. "The Dark Lord will reign. He will cleanse the earth of all mudbloods. Do not just stand there my fellow Slytherins. Take up his call. He needs your devotion. Leave now and go to his side. He rewards those who are loyal to him as he will reward me for staying loyal to him. Come follow me, pledge yourselves to the winning side of this war. For those who are not loyal to my master will fall. Come now!" He yelled and broke out of his bounds and rushed for the door followed by the two others. The aurors did not want to hurt any of the students by sending spells after them. They would be found later. The sad part was that 4 other 7th years followed him as well as Pansy Parkinson.

Pansy yelled over to Crabbe and Goyle to follow her and shot Draco a look that clearly indicated she expected him to come as well. "Sorry Parkinson, I have to finish my schooling first." Draco shot out and sat down at one of the tables. In all they lost 12 students to the darkness that night. The surprise was that as soon as Crabbe and Goyle realized Draco wasn't going they too sat back down. The fact that Malfoy remained was a shock to the students.

"Although it pains me to see my students lost to the darkness. It lightens my heart to be in the company of so many wonderful young people. You all are a credit to the wizarding community." Dumbledore told them. The ministry officials had all left to figure out what to do about the 12 new death eaters from Hogwarts. "Do not let this unfortunate event spoil our celebration. Let us once again unite the houses and band together to bring peace first to these halls and then to the world."

The students smiled and the music started again. Harry and Hermione looked at each other and nodded before heading straight for the Slytherins. Harry asked Millicent Bullstrode to dance while Hermione asked Draco. The DA took their cue and within a minute not a single student was dancing with someone from their own house. There were even two Hufflepuff girls for Crabbe and Goyle to dance with. The reporter was grinning and the photographer was busy taking photos.

The dance was a success in the end. The students from all four houses were starting to get to know each other. Dumbledore had the sparkle back in his eye by the end of the night. It really was a hero's ball. Never in his memory had the four houses been so open with each other. He had always hoped that somehow Harry's presence in the school would untie the houses and it seemed he was right. The Slytherins no longer trusted the dark side like they had. The dark had abandoned its own to get at Harry and instead of only protecting himself Harry and his friends protected them all, including the Slytherins they always professed to hate. The Slytherins had a wake up call that day and it seemed they were finally on the right track.

Chapter 40: Of Potions and Planning

The next morning's Daily Prophet was full of news the students were excited to see. The front page had a heading of "Heroes at Hogwarts" and a large color picture of the 10 Order of Merlin winners. The article outlined how they were the youngest winners ever and had quotes from each of them as well as some of the ministry officials and the professors. Dumbledore was quoted as saying he was "never more proud of his students." There were other smaller photos of the award ceremony as well. The article took up the whole front of the paper.

The inside articles were about the three death eaters and the students that left. Then there was a big article on house unity showing photos of students dancing with members of the other houses. Over all the press was great. Harry was happy to see that the articles were all written tastefully and accurately. The reporter did a wonderful job.

The 10 had all received an owl with copies of all the photos that were taken of them that night. Harry's favorite was the one of his standing between Tonks and Remus. It was their first family photo. Hermione was smiling at the one of McGonagall hugging her while crying. "Can you believe everything that has happened this week?" Ron asked Harry with a grin.

"It doesn't quite seem real does it?" Hermione asked them. "I mean one second we were having a peaceful lunch and then we race off to fight the death eaters. Now we all have Orders of Merlin and our pictures are all over the paper. It's very surreal."

"There's an order meeting tonight," Ginny whispered to them. "I'm sure we'll be informed soon." They all believed in her seer abilities too much to question how she knew.

The 10 of them had to autograph half the schools papers before lunch. The attention was unwanted but not unwelcome. The biggest surprise was that many of the Slytherins were asking for autographs as well. Hermione was beaming when a little Slytherin first year told her she wanted to grow up to be just like her. "I never thought that I would ever hear that I was idolized, let alone by a Slytherin," She laughed to the boys. They were all hanging out in the great hall instead of the common room so the other students could find them.

"Good morning all!" Draco said in an overly cheerful voice. He plopped down on the bench next to Ginny with a big grin. "Wouldn't you say it's a beautiful day?"

"What has you in such a chipper mood this morning?" Hermione asked him with a knowing smirk on her face.

"I don't have to hide or pretend any more. The whole of the remaining Slytherins had a little meeting last night. I was told in no uncertain terms by the rest of my house that if I was not loyal to Dumbledore and you lot that I should leave before bad things happened to me in my sleep. I also found out that Crabbe and Goyle never wanted to join Voldemort and only would have to pacify their fathers and me." He told them all.

"So we now have the support of Slytherin house?" Ron asked unsure.

"Yes, which also means I don't have to pretend that I'm not friends with you lot!" He told them laughing at the face that Ron pulled. "Just face it Weasley, I'm not nearly as bad as you made me out to be."

"Fine," Ron said resigned. "Welcome to the group Malfoy."

"Mr. Malfoy, come with me," Snape said walking up behind the group. When they were seated in his office he spoke again. "The meeting did not go well last night. Let me just say that you are not safe outside of this school. The Dark Lord was highly displeased that you did not choose to join him last night. I told him you wanted to finish your schooling but he would not be persuaded. The newest members were all interrogated to find out why your allegiance changed. Miss Parkenson was quite vocal about your friendship with Miss Weasley and your new relationship with Miss Delacour."

"What do I need to do? Is my mother safe?" Draco asked. He was unsurprised about the report. He had expected as much.

"Your mother is quite safe. I took the liberty of resetting the wards on your manor. The only people able to apparate through the wards are your mother, you, Gabrielle, myself and the headmaster. I am sure you know the extent of the wards your father placed upon the manor. Let us just say that the Death Eaters will not be happy to find that the wards have been set against them. I also made sure the wards were set so that your father's elf could not leave the house. He knows too much and it is not safe for him to get into the wrong hands." Snape told him. "All you need to do is concentrate on your school work for the rest of the year, we'll figure out what to do at the end of the year."

"Thank you for telling me this sir," Draco told his head of house. "I would appreciate it if you could relay the danger to my mother so she knows not to leave the manor."

The Order meeting was held in the Transfiguration classroom that night right after dinner. Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Luna, Neville, Draco and Gabrielle made their way to the classroom in anticipation of what information was going to be presented. The meeting from last night was canceled due to the new circumstances. They were some of the first to arrive and took seats off to the side to allow plenty of room for the older members.

Once the other members arrived Dumbledore stood to start the meeting. "Thank you all for coming. We have much to discuss. The Dark Lord has been significantly weakened thanks to the failed attempt on Hogsmead. The 36 captured Death Eaters were mostly higher ranking members of Voldemort's circle. After the attack there were only 2 remaining members of the inner circle. The Death Eaters that escaped during the attack were less ranking members and not as well trained. We now have an opportunity to plan an attack on them and take out Voldemort once and for all." This announcement was met with cheers from the room.

Snape stood up and gave an update of current death eater activity. It seems that Voldemort has all his remaining followers with him in extensive training. Snape as his left hand man is supposed to spy on Dumbledore and any resistance efforts. Snape also mentioned that he was supposed to try and recruit new members from his students. He related that Voldemort was displeased with the low number of students that chose to follow him. It also seemed that for the display of loyalty and in bringing new recruits that the 7th year dueling champion was awarded a place in the inner circle. The inner circle which used to consist of 10 members is now only 5 strong with 3 of them being newer members.

Dumbledore then opened the floor to ideas on how to use the failed attack to their most advantage. Harry stood, "Sir I think that whatever we do, we need to include the Slytherins. They have chosen our side, if we don't include them I worry that they will think we don't trust them. They are strong allies and it would not be good to alienate them."

Hermione stood as well. "Slytherins excel in cunning and planning. We should use their strengths. Also, they are good at subterfuge and spying. We need to play to their strengths. Gryffindors may be brave and like to rush in without a plan but that leads us to unnecessary losses. I say we use every resource available to plan the best attack with the lowest potential for losses from our side." She smiled shyly and sat back down.

"As much as it pains me to say this, Miss Granger is correct," Snape said. "If we form teams based upon skills we will be better able to plan out the attack." It was decided that Ron and Draco would be on the strategy team with Dumbledore owing to Ron's chess ability and Draco's natural Slytherin tendencies. Harry, Ginny and Neville were placed on the attack team to plan out the type of spells to use and get the arsenal ready. They would also be responsible for the training of other members who were less strong in attack. Gabrielle and Hermione were placed on Snape's team of alternative strategy and research. They were to determine the best way to counter any dark spells the death eaters would likely use as well as figure out the best method to bring down Voldemort. Luna was placed on the recovery team that was focusing on learning battlefield medicine from Poppy as well as researching emergency departure methods in case the battle started going poorly.

The meeting ended with each individual team determining when to meet. Harry's group had both Tonks and Lupin in it along with a good number of other members. Fred and George were given the job of developing any of their products to help the cause. The ministry employees were left out of the groups so they could focus on their jobs. The medical group was small, made up of Poppy, Luna, Flitwick, Sprout and McGonagall. The teachers were also responsible for the students safety at the school if the attack was to happen when they were around.

Draco, Ron and Dumbledore decided to meet on Thursdays after dinner to strategize. Thursdays before dinner they decided to reinstate the dueling club to train up all the students and to give them the impression that they were being included. The Wednesday secession of DA was also moved to the Great Hall so any student could join. Hermione, Gabrielle and Snape were the strangest group of them all. Snape assigned Gabrielle to research any possible methods to kill the dark lord. They needed a way for Harry to take him out for good. It wouldn't do them any good if he could be reborn again like last time. Snape set Hermione looking for ways to block the unforgivable curses.

Gabrielle had gone off to the library leaving Snape and Hermione to discuss possible methods. Hermione had already done some preliminary research over the summer at headquarters after the episode at the ministry. She had some theories on possible blocking methods. "I think the best method to block Crucio is using a potion. I don't think a counter spell will be strong enough to counteract all the effects. A potion that stays in the bloodstream for a specific amount of time will have the greatest chance. If we can block the effect the curse has on the nerves it should allow the person to continue fighting as well as negating the pain inflicted." She told him making him raise an eyebrow as that was the same conclusion he had come to after years of research.

"Have you researched this topic before?" He asked her once again impressed with her wealth of knowledge but loathe to admit it.

"Yes sir. I spent some time this summer researching in the library at headquarters. The books there have a lot of information on the unforgivables. I spent most of the time researching Imperious and I believe a mind enhancing potion would help strengthen the resolve of the person subjected to the curse." She told him, surprised at how easily she was explaining herself to the most hated professor at Hogwarts.

"Expand upon that," he told her not showing that he was interested. He usually ignored Imperius since he was able to throw off the curse.

"Since individuals with strong conviction can throw off the curse with no outside help. I thought that by using a potion to strengthen the person's resolve they could show the same conviction. Harry told me that while under the curse he still had a little voice in the back of his mind that questioned the orders given by the caster. Once he listened to the voice he would throw off the curse. When the fake Moody put me under it all I felt was the overwhelming contentment, I didn't have enough strength of mind to toss it off." She told him sadly.

"I have a supply of mind strengthening potions in my private stores. We should test those first. If any of them help at all we can use it as the base potion and research ways to form it to our exact purposes. We should go down there and start testing them tonight." Snape said getting up and motioning her to follow him.

They reached the potions classroom and Hermione started getting nervous. She just knew that they were going to test the potions on her since she couldn't cast Imperio. She followed him into his private lab off of the classroom and into his private stores. She smiled as she remembered the last time she was in there in 2nd year when stealing the boomslang skin. Snape handed her an armful of vials to carry back into the lab, in all he had 15 different mind strengthening potions. Hermione shot him a questioning look at the number of potions he had on hand.

"I was about to start some research on mind altering potions. I was beginning with the properties of these mind strengthening potions. But they will be more use in finding an anti-Imperio potion." He told her, wondering why he was explaining himself to a student. He was also impressed with her idea and looked forward to testing it. "I'll cast Imperio on you first without any altering potion. Then we will try it with the potion and you will make note of your reactions to the curse both with and without the potion."

Hermione nodded and pulled out a small spiral notebook to record her reactions. She also took off her outer robes to get prepared. She stood in the middle of the lab and nodded that she was ready. Snape said the spell and she felt the complacency rush over her and she was soon immersed inside a cocoon of ignorant bliss. She then heard Snape's voice to tell her to dance. All she knew was that it was imperative that she dance. She started twirling around in long forgotten ballet positions from her early childhood. Suddenly he lifted the curse. "Did you experience any urge to fight the curse on your own?" Snape asked her. She shook her head no and he handed her the first potion. One sip was all that would be required.

Again Snape placed the curse on her. She was surrounded by the same blanket of ignorance except now she was still aware of her surroundings in the classroom. She could tell that Snape was there and still smell all the different ingredients. She heard his voice tell her to jump up and down and she complied. The need to do what he said was not lessened. The next potion that she took increased her thought processes, she had been working on an advanced arithmancy calculation all week and with the potion the answer jumped to the front of her mind. Snape made her bark like a dog then took the curse off. She hurried to write down the answer to her artithmathcy problem and then her observations. They had tried 7 of the potions with no results so far.

The next potion didn't seem to have any immediate effects. Snape told her to sing. In the farthest back corner of the fog in her mind she heard the little voice question why she should sing. Before she had time to think about the voice she had started singing. She had him put the curse back on to see if it happened again. He told her to spin in circles and the little voice questioned again, but once again she still did as told.

"I started questioning your command but didn't have the chance to really think about the voice before I followed through with your command," she told him.

"Let's try the rest of the potions to see if we get any better results. But this seems like a promising start." Snape responded, anxious to resume the tests.

The next five potions had no noticeable effects. There were only two potions left to test and both were hybrid potions that Snape had developed for his research. He was interested to see if they had any more of an effect. The second to last potion heightened Hermione's senses, everything seemed more crisp and easier. Snape put the curse on and told her climb up on the work bench. The voice in the back of her head was louder this time questioning whether she should comply or not. She still was unable to stop herself from complying but she was able to slow down her response. Snape was impressed with her progress and they hurried to test the last potion.

"This is my best mind enhancing potion, it is untraceable. There are no current testing methods that will show that a person is under the influence of this potion. I developed this for use against the dark lord. He is skilled in Legimacy and can sense the use of mind altering potions and spells, this one he can not detect." Snape told her as he handed her the last vial.

Hermione once again could not sense any immediate effects from the potion. Snape ordered her to dance again and this time the voice questioning the command was loud, almost louder than the command itself. Hermione just stood there listening to the two voices and not knowing which one to listen to. Snape repeated the order and she managed to ask "Why?" before starting to dance and while dancing she was able to say, "No, I don't want to." He took the curse off and they hurried to document her experiences.

"I was so close to being able to throw it off. It was such a surreal experience. It was like having a foreign presence inside you. I could sense you trying to force your will upon me and I didn't want to listen but I just couldn't quite stop myself. That potion is definitely on the right track." Hermione said excited. The two of them spent the rest of the night going over the properties of the potion and brainstorming ways to alter it.

Gabrielle came into the lab just before curfew to ask for a pass to the restricted section to do more research. Snape sent the two study-aholics off to bed, both with passes the restricted section to use the rest of the week. They were meeting on Friday to discuss any findings. Hermione was to meet with Snape again on Tuesdays after dinner to work on the Anti-Imperious potion. The two girls were excited about their roles on the research. It was what the two did best. Hermione was surprised with how easily she was able to work with Snape. He really was different outside of classes.

Hermione went to bed that night feeling for the first time since convincing Harry to start DA that she was really doing something to thwart Voldemort's efforts. She dreamed of all the different possibilities that succeeding in their research would bring. She also was excited about the start of the research on Crucio.

Chapter 41: Clearing the Clouds

Harry and the group were holed up in the library all week long. The lot of them was working on research for the order under the guise of doing homework. Harry, Neville and Ginny had their own table full of DADA books as well as war history books. They were compiling lists of curses that would fully disable the Death Eaters without causing permanent damage. They wanted them all to pay for their crimes. Neville was determined to contribute to the group and not let them down. Even though his parents were healed, he still wanted vengeance for all the years they were lost to him.

They rushed through all their homework for the week to get more time to spend on Order research. Ginny and Luna were the only ones who had to spend extra time studying since it was their OWL year. Even Ron didn't complain about the extra time in the library. He was currently combining his Quidditch knowledge with his chess skills by devising aerial attack plans ands strategies.

Hermione was in her element; she was made for research. Gabrielle had memorized the library index so between the two girls they could direct the rest of the team to any books they might need, or at least the right section. Gabrielle had two scrolls of notes so far but she admitted that nothing looked overly promising so far. Hermione finally had to leave the others and head down to see Snape for more practical research.

Snape was also researching the potion at all available moments. He was making a detailed description of the current potion. He wanted Hermione to have the complete description so she could research possible alternatives. He had made three new batches during the week and read up on other potions throughout classes. He usually marked essays throughout classes but decided the research was more important. He hoped his students wouldn't notice his unusual drop in homework assignments.

"Good evening sir," Hermione said politely when she reached his private lab. She had noticed the lack of homework in his class but stayed quiet since she knew the reason why. They had been working every night that week trying to determine which properties of the potion was the cause of the increased resistance. They had already ruled out several ingredients. They worked in relative silence most of the evening. By the end of the night they had ruled out all but two ingredients that they believed the effect was due to a combination of the two.

Snape assigned Hermione to research the uses of the two ingredients in other potions as well as their properties over the weekend. Snape was going to collect some more samples of the ingredients out of the forest over the full moon that weekend. Rhodiola picked under the full moon was at its most potent and Schizandra properties change with every moon cycle.

"Sir, I was thinking that we might look at adding Polygonatum. From my research so far it looks promising that it could produce the desired results. I thought it might be beneficial if you picked some of it under the moon as well." Hermione told him, hoping he wouldn't yell at her for suggesting it.

"I will add it to my substantial ingredient list that I plan on gathering this weekend. The benefit of gathering the ingredients from the forest is that there is no record of the ingredients being purchased and therefore no record of what potion we are researching. You'll want to remember that for the future if you still plan on becoming a potions mistress." Snape told her. Hermione could only nod at him in surprise that he was behaving so cordially.

The next few weeks went fast for the group. They were still all busy with their jobs for the Order as well as their normal school work. Harry, Ginny and Ron were all busy with Quidditch practice since their match against Ravenclaw was at the end of the month. In addition to all of that there were the new expanded DA sessions on Wednesday after dinner. Over 2/3 of the student body was showing up for DA now.

Harry had to break the group up into groups with similar skill levels. He had a beginners group for the younger students that focused more on defense skills and what to do during an attack. The beginner group was mostly 1st and 2nd years and was run by Hannah and Luna who were good working with the younger ones. The next group was the intermediate group made up of mostly 3rd and 4th year students that covered the basic skills needed in DADA. This was mostly a review of the class work that should have been learned the last few years. There were quite a few older (5th and 6th) years that had to start out in this level. Tonks and Neville were running this group. The remaining students were placed in 3 groups labeled DA1, DA2, and DA3.

DA3 was for the least talented or slower learners. They learned the fighting techniques and advanced defense methods that had been learned the last 2 years in DA. Justin and the Creevy brothers were running that group. The DA2 was for those who surpassed the skills taught in DA3 as well as for those who wanted a focus on defensive abilities. Hermione, Gabrielle and Ron were running that group. The last group, DA1, was for the most advanced of the students and focused more on offensive magic. It was run by Harry, Ginny and Draco. Remus was in charge of making sure the students were in the right groups. He walked round and observed everyone's progress and moved them to different groups if needed. He also helped each group with lesson plans. The other professors would show up to watch the practice sessions but stayed out of the way.

Harry had auror training with Tonks on Thursdays and was finally out of the beginning boring history and rules and was into the hands on training. Mad-Eye Moody had attended his last session and told Harry that he would be better trained when he finished the school than most were when they finished the auror training course.

The group of them was in the Room of Requirement finishing up some homework assignments when Ron tossed his book down with a sigh. "Do you realize we haven't had any time to do any rule breaking or sneaking out lately!" Ron complained. "We have invisibility cloaks and al my brother's products at our disposal and we spend every waking moment preparing for an attack or trying to get our homework done. We're all turning into Hermione!" They all laughed and decided they would try and fit some fun into their new over worked schedule.

"I promise we will do something fun this weekend," Harry told them all. "How about we have a party here on Saturday? I can have Dobby send some Butterbeer and sweets and we can have the kitchens send up some other stuff. We can invite some of our other friends and just hang out."

"We could have some music so we could dance and have everyone wear their favorite muggle club clothes," Ginny said getting excited.

"Let's not make it too many people; I don't want the professors to find out." Hermione said trying to pretend the idea didn't make her nervous. "I have to go work with Snape now, so let me know what the plan for the weekend is later." She told them before making her way down to the dungeon. They were ready to another batch of potion. This would be their 7th test batch. They were making progress, the 6th batch had made it where she was able to resist the curse for a while but by the 2nd or 3rd command she couldn't resist any more. She was never able to toss off the curse like Harry was able to yet.

Snape handed her the potion as soon as she walked in. Like the others she did not feel any immediate effects. He placed the curse on her and she barely felt the now altogether too familiar detached feeling of bliss. "Jump up and down," Snape commanded her. She felt no compelling desire to comply and told him no. He gave her commands for the next 5 minutes and even recast the spell all without results. He finally lifted the curse and did something Hermione didn't even think was possible, he smiled.

"It works!" Hermione cheered smiling as well. "We did it! I didn't feel compelled to do what you said at all. Plus I didn't even feel that detached feeling very strongly. I kept my mind the whole time!" She was ecstatic; they had found the solution after only a month of straight research. She knew he had the base potion already made, but she never thought they could find it so fast.

"We need to test it on more people and using different spell casters to make sure. There is still the possibility that you were able to resist due to the multiple doses of potion you have been taking. We have to be sure, but yes, I believe we have achieved the desired results." Snape said back to his impartial face that showed no emotions except anger and irritation. "Let us take it to the headmaster."

They ended up testing the potion on Ginny, McGonagall, Neville, Ron and Flitwick using Moody, Dumbledore, Tonks, and Snape casting the Imperious Curse. By the end of the night they were convinced they had a cure to Imperious. They called an Order meeting for the following Tuesday after dinner to share the results. That would give Snape and Hermione time to brew a few batches of the potion to hand out. Snape had picked enough of the needed ingredients to make over 20 batches. Hermione's research showed that the potion would stay in the person's bloodstream for up to 10 hours at full strength and the results would then lessen over the next 4 hours. The needed dose was only a single sip of potion and the shelf life was a little over a year.

They sent Hermione and Ginny into Hogsmead the next morning to purchase a few hundred mini potion bottles. The girls told the shopkeeper the bottles were for a supply of hangover potion they were making for the big party they were having that weekend. The shopkeeper laughed and even offered them a discount since they were planning ahead. It was a good cover story on why they needed so many little bottles.

They placed unbreakable charms on each bottle and threaded them on strings to be worn around the neck and then filled them all with the potion. They put the rest of the potion in large beakers and kept it in Snape's private stores. They documented all their research for publication once the war was over. They couldn't afford the knowledge to get into the wrong hands before Voldemort was defeated. They also discovered an added side affect of the potion was that it increased the person's retention rate of what went on while under the potion. Hermione could recall almost every detail of what went on so it was easy to document their progress. They decided to name it the Cloud Clearing Potion.

Hermione was in a great mood when she woke up on Saturday morning. She was sill on a high from finishing the potion and was even looking forward to the party later that day. Ginny and she were going to spend the afternoon digging through their closets for the perfect outfits to wear. Although Hermione wasn't the type to care for that type of thing she was looking forward to spending some time alone with Ginny. The two girls had gotten to be even better friends over the year from sharing a room.

The boys were going to spend the morning on the Quidditch pitch and then get the room ready for the party that evening. Dobby had sent 15 cases of Butterbeer and three boxes full of Honeyduke's sweets all shrunk down and placed inside a Quality Quidditch Supplies box. "Dobby is the best house elf ever!" Ron exclaimed, "He even put it all in a box that no one would question you getting at breakfast."

"So, how are things with you and Harry going lately?" Hermione asked Ginny as they were sorting through clothes after lunch. She knew that things were going well and that Gin loved talking about Harry.

"Things are great. We haven't been spending as much time together lately due to order work and everything else but it's surprising that doesn't bother me that much. He still makes time to see me and even if we don't hang out as often it doesn't seem like we are apart. Did I tell you that I had a vision of our wedding?" Ginny asked her.

"Really? That's neat. It must be nice to know you'll be together forever." Hermione told her with a sigh.

"I take it things with Ron are not going so well then?" Ginny asked with a chuckle and sat on the bed next to her.

"I love Ron; don't get me wrong, he's a great guy and one of my best friends" Hermione trailed off.

"Why do I sense a 'but' in there somewhere? Come on out with it," Ginny said.

"I don't think I'm in love with him the way I'm supposed to be. We never talk, he only wants to talk about Quidditch and you know that I just can't stand that subject for very long. I'm also not that comfortable with him physically. I mean, if I was in love with him wouldn't I want to snog him all the time? When he kisses me I just feel weird, almost like I'm doing something wrong. I know he notices that I don't hug or kiss him but I don't know what to do." Hermione finally admitted. It felt good to finally tell someone what he was feeling. "Is there something wrong with me?"

"I don't think there's anything wrong with you." Ginny said with a smile. "Maybe you and Ron were just never meant to be more than friends. You two argue all the time and even though opposites are supposed to attract, maybe you are just too opposite for anything more than friendship. Do remember that game we played where we all describes our perfect mate?" She asked and continued when Hermione nodded yes. "You described someone who was no where near Ron and he did the same. You two are young; it's natural to fall for your best friend since you spend so much time together. Have you ever felt comfortable with a gut before?"

"Not really. The only other guy I ever spent any time with was Krum and it was hard to talk to him in person with his broken English. He hugged me a few times and it felt nice but nothing special. I hear you and Lavender and Parvarti talking about guys and how you almost loose yourselves in the guys embrace and how when they kiss you it's like you are the only two on the planet. Well I guess I just want to feel like that once in my life and with Ron I don't get that at all." Hermione told her with a shrug.

"Can you see yourself married to Ron?" Ginny asked and tried not to laugh as Hermione cringed and then shook her head no. "You just pictured yourself living my mum's life with way too many little wild haired red heads running around while Ron spent all day at work and left you to take care of them all didn't you?" Ginny giggled at the look on Hermione's face when she nodded yes.

"You are not meant for a life like my mum. My mum loves kids and all she ever wanted to be was a mother. You are too smart to stay at home and raise a litter of Weasleys. My brother wants a bunch of kids. If I'm not mistaken you don't even know if you want kids." Ginny told her friend.

"So what do I do now?" Hermione asked. She had realized that Ron wasn't her dream guy but with Ginny spelling it all out she realized she needed to break it off with Ron so he could find someone better for him.

"Talk to him," Ginny told her. "Be honest with him and tell him how you feel. You two are too good of friends to let this get between you. Do you want me to call him in here?" Ginny then left to go get Ron since she had her outfit all picked out.

"What's did you need me for?" Ron asked nervously as he walked into the girls' room. He knew there was something up with the way Ginny looked at him.

"Come sit over here with me Ron, I need to talk to you." Hermione said trying to smile like normal and failing miserably. She didn't want to hurt Ron; she loved being friends with him.

"So it's that bad huh?" He asked as he sank onto her bed. He knew their relationship hadn't been going the best but they had been so busy the last month he hadn't given it much thought. He remembered that the reason they were even in Hogsmead the day of the attack was so he could try being more romantic towards Hermione in an attempt to make things better. "Are you that unhappy with our relationship?"

Hermione was surprised at Ron's unusual display of observation. He was normally fairly dense when it came to girls and feelings. "I'm not unhappy exactly Ron, I'm just not sure what I want anymore. You and I are great friends; I just don't think we were meant for each other."

"Can you tell me what I did wrong?" Ron asked trying to mask his broken heart. He was surprised to find that he wasn't all that hurt or even upset about the idea of their relationship being over.

"You didn't do anything wrong Ron. You are still the same great, funny guy I've been friends with since 1st year. I was never comfortable with the physical aspect of a dating relationship. You know we have only kissed a handful of times. I just think that we don't fit together as anything other than friends. We both need someone that the other one cannot be. You need someone who likes Quidditch and will be willing to have a family and put you before their career. I need someone who challenges my mind, who I can discuss all my theories and ideas with and who understands that my career is important to me and that I may never want kids. We want totally different things, how would we ever work?" She asked him with a single tear trickling down her cheek.

Ron sat for a while processing everything she said. He knew that he wanted a big family and had never really thought about how different his dreams were from hers. He had never really given their relationship a lot of thought at all. The more he thought the more he realized she was right. They had been 'dating' most of the year and the only thing that had changed is that he wasn't jealous of other guys talking to her anymore. They still acted the same, just like friends.

"Wow, you're right as usual," Ron said with a laugh. "I really thought this would hurt a lot worse. Maybe this just shows that we are only supposed to be friends."

Hermione started crying because he understood. "I never want us to stop being friends Ron. I know it will be kind of weird for a while and then even more if you get a new girlfriend but we have to promise now that we will always work it out. Friends forever and for always?"

"Sure thing. But you seem to forget that things will also be weird when you get a new boyfriend!" He laughed and gave her a hug. The ease of the hug surprised both of them; their hugs had been awkward since they started dating.

"I don't think I'll have to worry about that for a while. There isn't anyone I can think of here that would meet my criteria. I think I'll leave dating for college and focus on studying, the order and hanging out with my friends until then!" She laughed as she sent him off to find Harry and Ginny and fill them in while she got ready for the party. They decided to announce their mutual break-up at the party and then have a good time dancing with all the single people there. Ron even made her promise to dance with at least 3 different guys as he was planning on dancing on any girl dumb enough to say yes.

"So things went better than either of us thought huh?" Ginny asked as she came back in to get ready for the party. "I even heard him tell Harry that it was like a weight was lifted that he didn't even know was there. Are you going to be ok now?"

"Yes, I think everything will be just fine. At least I don't have this adding to the number of things I'm worried about now. Come on, I still need help picking out the perfect outfit!" The girls then spent the next hour making themselves beautiful.

The party was already in full swing when the girls entered. Ginny was decked out in a shimmery green halter top and they had transfigured her ugly pink plaid skirt into a short leather skirt with silver stitching. She was wearing black lace up sandals and had her hair in a messy bun at the nape of her neck. She had laughed as she transfigured one of her bracelets into a silver serpent arm band. "I'm just showing how much things have changes in the last month that I can wear a silver snake and green shirt without being accused of going Slytherin!" She had joked to Hermione.

Hermione was wearing tight black pants with red stitching. They had slits in each side up to the ankle that had red ribbons threaded through to make them end in a flair cut. She had decided on wearing ballet type shoes in a black and red pattern that she had found at a thrift store over the summer. She completed the outfit by wearing a red corset style tank top. The top was red satin with black boning and ribbons up the back. She had double plaited her hair to keep it off her face and was wearing a black choker necklace she borrowed from Ginny.

The girls were happy with the results of their outfits. Hermione's mother had insisted upon taking her shopping for the latest muggle fashions before she went to Headquarters during the summer and though she had protested at the time she was glad she had bought a few outfits. She knew their hard work had paid off when Lavender and Pavarti were standing speechless when the two walked in. Ginny looked at Hermione and the two started laughing and walked over to the boys.

"Damn Hermione, you're not supposed to look that good after having just broken my heart!" Ron joked when he saw what she was wearing. He was in a pair of jeans and a tight blue t-shirt that he borrowed from Harry who was in black jeans and green t-shirt.

"Well at least we don't match like these two," Hermione said pointing at Harry and Ginny who couldn't have matched better had they planned it. "No one will doubt they are together!"

"No one will doubt you two are together either if you don't make your announcement," Harry reminded them now that everyone was there. "I mean how is Ron supposed to convince any of the girls to dance with him if they think he's cheating on our lovely Hermione?"

They all laughed and Ron asked for everyone's attention. "Hermione and I have an announcement to make!" He yelled once everyone had started looking his way. "Just to satisfy all of you who like juicy gossip."

"After much discussion, Ron and I have decided to quit dating and return to the friendship we shared before the year started." Hermione told them all earning quite a few startled expressions from the crowd.

"We figured we should be the ones to tell you all so the rumors wouldn't blow everything out of proportion. We split on mutual agreement, we are just better as friends. Being a couple just wasn't working for us. Now everyone enjoy the party!" Ron finished and the music started and everyone started having a good time.

Justin was still too shy to ask Hannah to dance so Ron made a big production out of asking her to dance and telling her how nice she looked. It worked because the next song Justin took her hand and they danced the rest of the night. "That was very sweet of you Ron," Ginny told him smiling as Harry danced with Hermione. Draco came over with Gabrielle in tow.

"You're looking very Slytherin tonight Red," Draco told her, "May I have this dance?" He led her to the dance floor as Ron danced with Gabrielle.

"Doesn't it bother you that Draco dances with someone else?" Ron asked Gabrielle. He was still wary of Draco but after he killed his own father to protect Ginny he knew that Malfoy was on their side.

"No, I trust Draco. Besides it's not like we are married yet. Jealousy is a waste of time in my opinion." Gabrielle told him.

"So your brother and Granger broke it off huh?" Draco asked trying to make conversation. "I didn't see that coming. I thought he was head over heals for her."

"He was at one point." Ginny told him, "He just never noticed that they didn't have anything in common and barely ever did couple stuff. Once she pointed that out, even he realized they were better off as friends."

"I just always figured that you and Potter would live next door to the two of them and raise a bunch of kids that would grow up to be best friends like the 4 of you are." Draco told her.

"Can you actually see Hermione content with a life like that?" Ginny laughed and they finished the dance so she could get back to Harry.

Hermione had a great time at the party. She danced with every Gryffindor boy there as well as with Draco, Terry Boot, two Hufflepuffs she didn't know and a 5th year Slytherin named Sylvester. She thought it appropriate that a kid named Sylvester was a Slytherin. Ron was quite the ladies man that night. Lots of girls offered to dance with him to 'ease his pain' from the breakup. He danced with almost every girl at the party. He didn't dance with Lavender, Hannah, Luna or the Patil twins but he did manage to dance with Susan Bones from Hufflepuff at least 3 times.

The party was a big success and everyone was having a great time. It was well past curfew and still didn't seem to be winding down. The four houses were having fun together without even noticing that old house rivalries were being broken down.

Remus was on night rounds when he ran across Severus. "Have you seen any of the 5th and 6th year Slytherins tonight anywhere?" Snape asked without preamble. He had checked the common room and they were all gone.

"No, but Harry and Ron were acting overly excited today and Harry received a box by owl. I wonder if there is a party going on that we were no made aware of?" Remus asked putting the clues together.

"Where would students from different houses get together to have a party?" Snape wondered out loud. "I have looked through all the empty class rooms."

"We should check the room of requirement, which is where I would have it if I was them." Remus commented as the two teachers headed off to the 7th floor. "Well the door is there so I'm guessing we are in the right spot. So how do we handle this?"

"It is an unprecedented event to have students from all 4 houses willingly spending time together. I believe we should open the door and inform them they have 10 minutes to get to bed before we hand out detentions and deduct house points." Snape told him wondering if they shouldn't just assign the lot of them detention. "We should also threaten suspension if we find another party being held without faculty permission."

"Sounds like you have it under control, I'll just watch you and help if needed," Remus chuckled and reached for the doorknob.

Hermione was on the other side of the room sitting on a couch with Draco and Neville when the door opened. She saw Remus and Snape enter and knew they were all in serious trouble. Snape was surprised by the sheer number of students in the room. The only beverages were pumpkin juice and Butterbeer and it looked as if everyone was behaving. It was thankfully not what he expected of a late night party in the room of requirement. There were no madly snogging couples or drunken students to take to Poppy.

"We are so busted," Draco commented when she elbowed him and pointed to the teachers. He didn't have time to comment any more when Snape took control.

Snape cast a Snorus charm and cleared his throat. He enjoyed the deer in the headlights look on the faces of most of the students and the music stopped abruptly and everyone froze in fear. "If you are not all in bed in 10 minutes you will loose house points and earn a week worth of detention. If I find out about any more unauthorized parties everyone in attendance may face suspension. Now everyone get out of here except for those responsible." Remus chuckled as he watched the students scatter out of the room as if their shoes were on fire.

Even though the party was Harry's idea, everyone in the EDA stayed to face Snape's wrath together. They were too close a group to point fingers or let anything happen to Harry. Remus smiled at how Hermione stepped in front of Harry and Ron in front of Ginny. Even Draco stepped in front of Gabrielle so that Ron, Hermione and Draco were standing in front of the rest of the group. Hermione spoke up first, "We are very sorry sir, we lost track of time. The party was supposed to be over before curfew."

Snape smirked at her attempt to cover for her friends and tried to keep his expression neutral while taking in her outfit and that of Miss Weasley who was decked out in Slytherin colors. Harry spoke up then, "The party was my idea sir. We have all been working so hard lately we just needed a night of fun. The others are not responsible. I was the one that set everything up."

"You are lucky you have such devoted friends Potter or you'd be spending the rest of the year in detention," Snape smirked earning a muffled snort from Lupin. "Now the lot of you, clean this mess up and get to bed. If any of you are out of your common rooms in 30 minutes you'll have wished you never came to this school." Snape said as he glared at them all and turned to leave with his robes billowing behind him. Remus just snapped his fingers and the room was once again spotless. He nodded to the door and the students all hurried out afraid of getting in any more trouble.

Chapter 42: Order of the Mind

"I hear you broke up a party of students from all four houses last night Severus," Dumbledore said over breakfast. "I hear even your Slytherins were decked out in muggle club clothes."

"Yes, the clothing was quite interesting," Snape commented remembering the unique outfit of Miss Granger. "Miss Weasley was even wearing Slytherin colors and a snake on her arm."

"It is nice the barriers between the houses have been broken down after all these years," The headmaster said with a twinkle in his eye. "Pretty soon we may even see the day that a Slytherin ends up with a muggle born Gryffindor."

Snape laughed to himself at that thought. "The barriers of friendship my have been broken. They may even trust each other enough to fight together in this war, but there are some things that will never change," he told Albus.

"You never know, when this war is over the perceptions will have changed. Look at Miss Granger for example. She is a muggle born who before her 7th year already has an Order of Merlin and has co-found the cure to the Imperious curse. These are things we used to believe impossible to achieve and yet she had done it. Maybe she'll be the one to end up with a Slytherin as well." Dumbledore commented.

"Somehow I think Mr. Weasley may not appreciate your speculation," Snape said.

"Ah, I see the mornings biggest piece of gossip has not reached you yet then," Dumbledore chuckled. "It seems our illustrious Miss Granger and the youngest Mr. Weasley has transferred their relationship back to that of the previous years' friendship." Snape's raised eyebrow was the only indication that the news interested him at all. "Did she mention anything while you were researching?"

"Of course not," Snape growled slowly loosing patience with the gossipy old headmaster. "We spoke only of our research. Why would the personal lives of my students be of any concern to me? Miss Granger was an adequate research assistant for the prescribed project."

"I'm glad to hear that," Dumbledore said with a smile that made Severus know something bad was coming. "Due to your success with the Cloud Clearing Potion, I want the two of you to spend the summer researching a potion that counters the Crucio curse at Headquarters."

"What?" Snape said with barely concealed contempt. "You want me to baby-sit the know-it-all for the summer?"

"Miss Granger will be staying at Headquarters for the majority of the summer and I believe the two of you working together can come up with an adequate solution. If you were to stay at Headquarters as well, your research would be sped up substantially. You will do this Severus; we need a counter to Crucio. You know the effects as well as anyone, we must find this and preferably before the final battle." Dumbledore said closing the conversation.

"Fine, but you'll be the one to break the news to her and Potter that I'll be hanging around all summer." Snape said brooding.

"Oh stop your sulking Severus; this is just what you need. I hate how you spend all summer holed up in your dungeon." Albus told him with a grin before resuming his breakfast.

Draco came over and sat down between Hermione and Ginny at breakfast that morning. "So Granger, I hear you stole the heart of one of my Slytherins," Draco drawled out loud enough for half the table to hear.

"What are you talking about Malfoy?" Hermione said rolling her eyes but putting her book down anyway.

"Sylvester Spinnet, the 5th year you danced with last night," he told her with a smirk. "Seems little Sylvester now has a thing for a certain know-it-all Order of Merlin winning Gryffindor who was looking quite good in that sexy little red number by the way."

Hermione just shook her head at the blonde boy. "It was just one little dance, I hardly think that means anything Malfoy," Hermione told him.

"Perhaps, but he talked about you and rumor is he will be asking you to the next Hogsmead weekend. What are your thoughts on that?" He smirked again.

"I'm flattered of course, but you might want to tell him not to bother asking as I will have to turn him down," Hermione told him.

"Why not? Are you too good to date a Slytherin?" Draco asked in mock outrage.

"I promise you I will date the first Slytherin who matches me in intelligence and doesn't want to date me solely for the fact that I have an Order of Merlin. Your little friend asked me about my award 4 times during the one song we danced! That is why I would say no. Besides, I think I'm done dating until I get to college, you boys just aren't smart enough for me!" She laughed earning several fake sounds of outrage from the guys around her.

"You wound me Granger," Draco said pulling an imaginary knife out of his heart. "But I'll hold you to that promise once I find the perfect Slytherin for you."

"You seem to forget one small point Draco," Hermione told him wrinkling her nose. "I'm not only Gryffindor but Muggle-born, what Slytherin would ever want me?"

Draco thought for a second and smiled with a shrug. He then stood on the bench and yelled out to the great hall, "I Draco Malfoy will not rest until I have successfully set up Hermione Granger, Order of Merlin 2nd class and Gryffindor Know-it-all up with the most intelligent Slytherin man I can find!" The Gryffindor's all laughed and applauded while Hermione turned red.

The teachers at the head table were all able to hear the majority of Malfoy and Hermione's conversation. Dumbledore and Lupin even chuckled at Malfoy's announcement. "Looks like my guess that it will be Miss Granger who ends up being the first Gryffindor to date a Slytherin will be correct if Mr. Malfoy keeps his promise." The headmaster said to Snape who was wondering what was coming over his students.

"I wouldn't worry Severus," Minerva told him with a sly smile. "I don't know a single one of your students that is intelligent enough for Miss Granger." Snape pretended to be outraged by that comment, but in reality he saw the truth in it. He wouldn't have to worry about trying to calm the dark lord or some set of irate parents, there were none of his students smart enough for the brilliant Gryffindor girl.

"Hello, we just broke up yesterday! Can't you wait like a week before setting her up with someone else?" Ron pouted.

"Like you can talk Weasley," Draco chuckled. "I saw how many girls you danced with last night! You didn't seem too concerned with a waiting period before pawing that Hufflepuff girl, Bones is it?" Ron turned as red as his hair and the rest all laughed at his embarrassment.

"Come on Gin, lets go get some fly time in before practice," Harry said with a wink taking his girlfriend's hand.

"It's Sunday," Hermione reminded them. "You don't have practice until tomorrow."

"Ron scheduled an extra practice to get ready for our match against Ravenclaw next weekend," Ginny told her. "We'll be out most the morning!"

Hermione decided to spend the morning in the library. She wanted to get started on some more research for the order. She was researching the ways the nerves of the body work in an attempt to figure out how exactly Crucio causes so much pain. She couldn't believe the end of the school year was only a few months away. She decided she would try and continue her research over the summer and she planned on getting her apparating license as soon as school was out now that she was a fully qualified wizard and all.

Hermione's research was interrupted by the headmaster shortly before lunchtime. "Good morning Miss Granger, would you mind accompanying me to my office? There is a matter that I wish to discuss with you." He told her and she hurried to follow him.

"I was very impressed with your and Severus' progress on the Cloud Clearing Potion and I want to continue your research." He told her once they were seated in his office.

"Yes sir," She told him with a smile. "I am already starting preliminary research into the effects of crucio on the human body. I spent all morning trying to determine just how the curse works."

"Excellent," He said with the maddening twinkle in his eye. "Then you will not be opposed to me assigning you to research the curse with Professor Snape over the summer at headquarters."

"Of course not sir, I will do anything to help the order." She responded wondering just how much time she would have to spend with Snape over the summer and how Harry would react knowing his hated professor will be in residence at his home all of summer break. "I was planning on spending the first two weeks of the summer with my parents and then the rest at headquarters, will this plan still work?"

"Yes, I wouldn't want you to miss seeing your family. I will be telling Harry and Remus of the arrangement after the Gryffindor Quidditch practice gets over." He told her and they headed down to the great hall for lunch.

"Sir, I truly respect professor Snape but I wonder about the working relationship over the summer. He tends to take points and assign detention whenever he gets upset. How will the arrangement work this summer?" Hermione asked looking at her feet so she didn't see the almost Slytherin smirk on the headmaster's face.

"Since you are a fully qualified witch and order member the two of you will be working as colleagues, not as professor and student. That is why I am waiting to begin your combined research until the start of the holidays." Dumbledore told her, his eyes full of mischievous sparkle.

"Colleagues?" Hermione squeaked excitedly as the old man just chuckled at her.

"Yes, I expect you and Severus will have an amiable relationship by the end of the break. To let you in on a secret I think that getting him out of the castle will be good for him. He has spent too many summers holed up in his dungeon with nothing but his potion ingredients. Some human company will do him good. I am also hoping this will strengthen the truce between Severus and Harry.

Hermione was on cloud nine as she entered the great hall and made her way to the Gryffindor table. She didn't even notice that half of the Slytherin table was watching her closely. She had just helped herself to a turkey sandwich when she was tapped on the shoulder. She turned to see Sylvester the 5th year Slytherin sitting beside her. "Good afternoon Sylvester," She said politely but groaning inside her head. She couldn't believe she had a 'fan.'

"Hello Hermione," He almost purred. Hermione thought it must be something taught to them in Slytherin since the only people she had ever known to pull it off were Snape and Malfoy. "I was hoping you would do me the honor of accompanying me on the next Hogsmead visit."

"I'm afraid I already have plans with Harry and Ron that day. I am sorry." She told him with a small smile, just enough to be polite but not enough to encourage him to try again. Unfortunately it seemed that young Sylvester was of the arrogant persuasion who believed he could charm her into seeing it his way.

He put his arm around her and flashed a cocky smile. "Surely you can change your plans. I was hoping we could take a carriage ride around town and have a picnic at the top of the hill. I'm sure that Potter and Weasley will understand."

"They may understand but I have never broken our plans before and I don't plan to start now," She said somewhat forcefully trying to get back to her lunch.

"Then perhaps we can go next weekend instead. I believe you have a special pass to Hogsmead that you have yet to use." He was really laying on the charms and obviously was not going to take no for an answer. She had discovered that most purebloods were used to getting their way and realized she would have to use some diversionary tactics to fend off the besotted Slytherin.

She glanced over at the Slytherin table to see Draco smirking and most of the rest of the table watching her exchange with their housemate. A glance to the head table saw an amused glint in Snape's eye. He could tell she was ready to drag the stupid boy back over to his friends if he didn't give up soon. Hermione finally sighed and turned back to Sylvester. "I am sorry but I already have my heart set on another Slytherin and I don't want him to get the wrong idea. I hope you understand," She smiled sweetly and thought to herself, "weasel around that answer you annoying little snake."

Sylvester went back to his house table defeated. His housemates patted him on the back in condolence except for Draco. "I told you not to bother Spinnet, she's too much for you to handle anyway!" Draco told him with a smirk.

"Does she think she's too good for a Slytherin?" Another 5th year boy yelled loudly down the table at his friend.

Sylvester shook his head, "Nah, she said she fancies some other chap and didn't want him to get the wrong impression."

"Oi, Hermione!" Draco called over to her. "What house is this bloke you fancy in? I told you I was going to set you up with a Slytherin," he said with a fake pout.

"Not to worry my dear little dragon," She said with a smile and went back to her meal without answering the question.

The table as a whole turned to look at Sylvester again. "She said he was a Slytherin." He yelled down to Draco and the boys at the table all smiled and tried to determine who it was the star Gryff liked.

"So you fancy a snake now huh?" Harry asked amused as he sat down next to her. Ginny just chuckled and Ron was shooting daggers at the entire Slytherin table.

Hermione just rolled her eyes at her friends. "I couldn't get the little bugger to leave any other way so I told him I fancied someone. I didn't want anyone saying that would make it seem like I have anything against the Slytherins so" She just shrugged. After Draco's little proclamation the rumors would be all over the school.

"You're not going to get out of this one now." Harry told her laughing. "Draco won't let up until you date a Slytherin."

"He's right you know," Draco said as he and Gabrielle walked by. "Now that you have admitted to having a thing for a Slytherin I won't rest until you are seen out in public with a Slytherin!"

"You'll be waiting a long time for that then. I have no plans to be seen in the exclusive company of a Slytherin." She told him with a smile.

"Is that so Miss Granger?" Professor Snape smirked from behind them startling the friends out of their conversation.

"Good evening Professor Snape," Hermione, Ginny and Draco all chorused.

"Miss Granger I would like to speak with you regarding that extra work the Headmaster asked you about." Snape said and gave her a nod before heading out of the great hall.

"What extra work?" Harry asked her.

"You'll have to ask the headmaster. He was going to talk to you and Remus after dinner." Hermione told him as she finished up her dinner and hurried down to the dungeons. "You wanted to speak with me sir?" She asked Snape.

"Although we will not be starting our combined research until this summer I believe we should use the Hogwarts library as best we can before the end of the year." Snape told her without his usual snarkiness. Dumbledore had instructed him to treat her like a colleague during their research. As much as he hated to admit it, she had been very helpful in finding the Imperio cure.

"Yes sir," She replied with a smile. "I have already started researching how the curse works from a physical standpoint. I plan on splitting my time between research and studying for finals. I think I should have the majority of the info I need out of the library before the year is over."

"Very good Miss Granger. We will start out research the 3rd week of the summer break," Snape said before dismissing her.

Dumbledore met with Harry and Remus about the plans for the summer. Remus was fine with the idea of the majority of the order research being done at their house as long as it didn't interfere with the wedding plans. Harry was fine until he was told that would mean that Snape would be staying for the majority of the summer. "It's not that I don't respect the work that Professor Snape does for the order. I know how important he is. It is just that this is our summer break and having him around makes things sort of tense." Harry told Albus.

"That should not be a problem this summer. Since you and your friends are all now fully qualified wizards and order members there is no reason that you can not all act as colleagues. I have spoken to Severus and he has agreed that the student teacher barrier need not be present during the break." Albus told the boy-who-lived.

"That works for me," Harry said with a smile. He would have said yes anyway so the breakdown of the student teacher barrier would be an added benefit.

"You ok with all of this Harry?" Remus asked him after they left the headmaster's office. "I know you were hoping for a calm summer of hanging out with your friends."

"Since when is hanging out with my friends ever calm?" Harry laughed. "Besides with you and Tonks getting married and all the research for the final battle at least we won't be bored!"

"Speaking of wedding plans, I want you to be my best man," Remus told him. "Tonks still hasn't decided who she wants as bridesmaids but I couldn't wait any longer to ask you."

"I would be honored," Harry said giving his dad a hug. "Have you two decided where you are having the ceremony yet?"

"No, it's hard to find someplace to accommodate both her wizarding and muggle families that is still safe from death eater attack." Remus told him.

"What about here at Hogwarts?" Harry asked. "Couldn't you just send carriages to pick up her muggle relatives and have them brought here?"

"That is most likely what we will have to do. We both wanted to have the wedding at number 12 but we can't risk the safety of its exposure. She only has a few muggle relatives that know about her being a witch so there won't be many of them coming. The rest think she hasn't spoken to since she was little." Remus told him.

"Have you finalized your plans for the honeymoon?" Harry asked with a wink.

"Yes, we'll be gone for a little over a month. Hedwig will be able to find us if needed, otherwise we'll be out of touch!" Remus said with a huge grin.

"The wedding is only a few months away; when do you want your bachelor party?" Harry asked. "As best man, I need to know these things."

"You can plan it for either the 1st or 2nd week of break before Hermione and the rest of the order gets there. Molly is going to go visit Charlie in Romania for those two weeks so we won't have to worry about the rest of the boys being in trouble for coming to the party." Remus said laughing.

Chapter 43: Ravenclaw vs. Gryffindor

The week leading up to the Ravenclaw vs. Gryffindor Quidditch match went by quickly. The houses were all excited about the game now that they were all getting along. Draco and Gabrielle had Gryffindor flags to support their friends even though they were sitting with the Slytherins. Hermione and Neville had front row seats to cheer on their friends. The big bet for the game was how many points the Gryff chasers would score before Harry caught the snitch.

The game was fast paced, at least for the Gryffindors. Ginny, Dean, and Seamus were much better players than their Ravenclaw equivalents. Cho Chang wasn't even trying to look for the snitch she was watching Harry and hoping he would spot it and she could get their first. Harry had already tricked her with 2 Wronski feints and a mad dash or two across the pitch.

Ginny had already scored 100 points and Gryffindor was ahead 180 to 20 when Harry spotted the snitch hanging out above Cho's head. He smiled at Cho and made his way over to her lazily like he wanted to talk to her about something. She smiled at him, still not noticing the snitch above her head. Draco saw the snitch as soon as Harry made his way over to Cho and was laughing at his attempt to grab it without her realizing it was within her reach.

"Hey Cho, good game don't you think?" Harry asked conversationally trying to both keep the snitch in sight and not alert her to its presence.

"Yeah, I just hope we can score some more points before we see the snitch." She told him with a big smile and eyelashes batting. Ever since he had gotten his order of Merlin she had gotten back in the habit of flirting with him. Ginny thought it was funny and he just found it annoying.

"I don't think that's going to happen today Cho," Harry said with an almost evil grin. Then he leaned in so she thought he was going to kiss her or at least touch her and grabbed the snitch from over her head. "Thanks Cho!" He yelled as he held up the snitch and took off towards his team.

The stands went wild at Harry's catch. The Ravenclaw's all groaned at their seeker and how she didn't even realize the snitch was hovering over her head. The Slytherins were all laughing at Harry's catch and the Gryffindor stands were going wild with cheers.

"I think we can safely have a big party tonight now that we pulled even farther away in house points. We can afford to loose some if we get caught!" Dean told the team as they headed into the showers. Hermione, Neville, Pavarti and Lavender hurried up to the common room to get the decorations up and get the food ready. Hermione had owled Dobby earlier in the week for provisions and he happily obliged with butterbeers and candy. The Hogwarts house elves sent up food as well so the party was well stocked.

"How do you get such good stuff for parties?" Lavender asked her as they finished putting up streamers and banners.

"Sorry, that is a Marauder secret that I'm just not at liberty to discuss." Hermione smiled at her friends. "You could call Harry, Ron, Ginny and I the 2nd generation of Marauders. Even though Fred and George are honorary members as well."

"Cool!" Pavarti squealed. "Do you have nicknames like they do?"

"Not yet, we have been too busy to think of any," She told her roommates. "Let's hurry and finish before the team gets up here. I have to go owl the rest of the 10 that aren't in Gryff to meet me outside the fat lady so they can join us."

Hermione met Hannah, Justin, Luna, Draco and Gabrielle at the Fat Lady. Fred, George and Lee Jordan were there as well having come to watch the game. The common room was a rowdy place. Hermione didn't even try to keep things under control. She knew it wouldn't work and decided to just have a good time. She knew the teachers were aware they were having a party so she wasn't too worried.

Tonks was recruited to keep watch over the Gryffindor party so she was in a corner dressed in Gryffindor colors and looking like a student talking to some 3rd and 4th years. Hermione had waved to her and Harry winked at her so she knew they recognized her but didn't say anything.

The party went on for a few hours before Hermione and Ginny took control and sent all the younger students up to bed letting only those 5th year and older to stay, except for Dennis who they always seemed to forget was so young. "Let's play a game!" Lavender said with a wink at Pavarti. "We kind of made it up after the last party. We charmed this muggle Magic 8 ball to come up with questions or dares for everyone. You just shake the ball and the question will float to the surface. Then everyone has to answer the question or do the dare. We also charmed it to know if you are lying so you have to answer the question truthfully. If you don't want to answer you have to take the consequence dare and the ball comes up with those too."

"You guys do know that it's against the law to charm muggle items right?" Hermione asked them with a smile. "But other than that, I think it's a great idea!" The girls smiled at the praise from Hermione.

"Can I play?" Tonks asked coming up to the group.

"Who are you?" Dean asked with a smile while moving over to let her sit between him and Seamus.

"This is Dora, she's cool." Harry told them. Since Harry seemed to think she should be allowed to play no one questioned her further. "I'll start," he said as he shook the ball and read, "If you had to kiss someone in this room right now who would it be? Well, that's easy for me it's Ginny." They went around the group and most of the answers weren't surprises. Ron actually answered Hermione even though they weren't together anymore. Hermione didn't want to kiss anyone in the room so when she answered Draco it wasn't a lie but it wasn't the truth either. Ron didn't seem to like her answer but Gabrielle and Ginny found it funny since they realized she was just messing with the boys and that she didn't want to kiss any of them.

Ginny was next with, "How far have you gone with a member of the opposite sex?" She blushed from ear to ear and looked from her three brothers to Harry with a look of utmost horror on her face. "Umâ 3rd base," She mumbled quickly as Harry gripped his wand hoping not to have to fight off all the Weasley boys.

"At least you haven't deflowered out little sister or we would have to hurt you and then make you marry her," Fred told Harry while Ron just looked impressed that Harry had so much success when he had such a hard time with Hermione.

Most of the rest of the 5th and 6th years had only been to 1st base or not even up to bat. Draco and Gabrielle were at 2nd base. Fred, George, Lee and 'Dora' have each gone all the way. Ron seemed impressed with his older brothers as well. Ron's turn with the 8-ball was, "Who is the sexiest teacher you know?" All the guys answered Tonks but the girls were split. Everyone but Lav, Pavarti and Hermione answered Remus. Lav and Pavarti still liked Lockheart even if he was a fraud. Hermione tried to answer Remus but the 8-ball said she was lying she tried again with Remus but it still thought she was lying. She went through all the teachers from Dumbledore to Hagrid and it still said she was lying. She finally only had one teacher left and she looked in shock at the ball before answering Snape. They all gasped as the ball didn't negate her answer. Draco smirked at her stunned face while the others all looked grossed out, including Hermione.

"How is that even possible, until this very second I never even thought of him as anything other than a teacher!" She huffed.

"That's it, all those books have finally rotted out dear little Hermione's brain." Fred told them all.

"I know you prefer intelligence over looks but really my dear, the question asked who the 'Sexiest' teacher was!" George said in mock outrage. Hermione just pouted until it was her turn for the ball.

"If you had to get married tomorrow what would the last name if the person you would marry be?" Hermione asked shaking her head. "I would guess I would end up with a Weasley if I had to marry tomorrow." She said and was relieved that the ball believed her.

"That's not fair! There are 6 Weasleys, which one of us would you marry?" George asked. He had always had a soft spot for Hermione even if he never wanted to date her he wouldn't mind her at least picking him to boost his ego.

"Too bad the question didn't ask that huh," Hermione laughed. Luna and Neville surprised everyone by answering each other, along with Draco/Gabrielle, Justin/Hannah and Harry/Ginny answering each other. The biggest shocks were 'Dora' answering Lupin even though Harry and Hermione knew it was Tonks and Ron answering Bones meaning he would rather marry the Hufflepuff girl than Hermione. Hermione was actually relieved that he didn't hold out hope of a marriage between them working. Fred, George and Lee all said their girlfriends (Spinnet, Johnson, Bell) and the rest all answered other Gryffindors.

Dean was next with a dare, "Walk up to a member of another house tomorrow and kiss them." They all groaned and promised to do the dare. Fred, George and Lee didn't have to do it since they wouldn't be around tomorrow.

Dora was next with, "Which Marauder do you think is the best?" She laughed and answered Moony along with Hermione, Luna, Hannah, Justin, Dennis, Dean and Seamus. Fred, George, Colin, Ron, Draco and Lavender all answered Padfoot. Harry, Ginny and Gabrielle were the only ones to answer Prongs. No one answered Wormtail and they were all grateful for it even if most of them didn't know who the Marauders really were.

They were about to play another round when Remus and Snape walked into the tower. "Not again," Draco groaned. "How did they know we were in here, shouldn't McGonagall be the one to find us."

"Hey pops, you wanna play with us?" Harry asked offering the teachers a seat. The non order members looked horrified at the idea and scampered off to bed with excuses of being tired. Tonks laughed at the looks on the kids faces as they thought of playing the game with a teacher not realizing they had been the entire time.

"What are you playing?" Snape asked trying not to sound too curious about the black ball they were using.

"It's a game that Lavender and Pavarti came up with. It's a lot like truth or dare except this ball comes up with the questions or dares and everyone does them." Tonks explained. "It's sort of fun, we should play it sometime this summer when all the order members are around."

"How do you know about the Order?" Ron asked her wondering why the teachers and Harry looked so calm. Harry laughed as Tonks morphed into herself and the rest realized they had a teacher present the entire night.

"I think we could play a round or two, what do you think Severus?" Remus asked as he sat down next to Tonks.

"Besides there is this one question it asked earlier about the sexiest" Draco started but was cut off by Hermione muttering a silencing charm on him so he couldn't finish. The rest all laughed at him before she released the charm. "Damn Granger I know better than to get on your bad side I didn't even see you reach for your wand!"

Remus picked up the ball and asked, "How many kids do you want to have?" He smiled at Tonks before saying two girls and a boy. Tonks wanted two boys and a girl so at least they were decided on having 3 kids. Harry surprised everyone by saying he wanted at least 5 kids and Ginny beamed saying she loved growing up in a big family and had hoped to be able to have six kids, 3 of each. Ron said he wants 4 kids. Both Snape and Hermione said they weren't sure they even wanted kids.

Snape was next with "Who is the smartest student in the school?" He glared at the ball and they all laughed that he would have to praise at least one person and they told him that the ball knew if they were lying. "Fine, I would have to say Miss Granger then," he said still grumbling but liking the shocked look on the students' faces that he had finally admitted that Hermione was the smartest witch in the school. Hermione had blushed and hid her face not wanting him to know how long she had waited for some sort of acknowledgement from him. Everyone else also said Hermione and she answered Gabrielle which made the little Veela smile.

"We should get to bed, it's getting late." Ginny said yawning. "We can just keep this ball by saying that Professor Snape confiscated it so we can play over the summer."

"Nah, I'll just make a new one with better charms so it can sense the kind of question the person wants to ask or the type of dare. I need something to do when I'm not researching." Gabrielle told them. "And I'll use a non-muggle ball so that we don't get in trouble from the ministry." They all laughed knowing that the Minister of Magic himself liked to tinker with muggle trinkets.

The next day the school knew of the dare that had been made where those who played had to kiss a member of another house. Neville and Luna were the first to follow through meeting between their table and giving each other a kiss to applause from both tables. Hermione decided to prove her Gryffindor courage and to get back at Draco for trying to set her up with a Slytherin and marched over to the Slytherin table. All eyes were on her in the great hall as the rumor that she fancied a Slytherin had made it all the way around school and they wanted to see who it was.

"Excuse me Draco," She said sweetly from behind him and Gabrielle tried not to laugh having figured out what Hermione was up to. "Could I speak with you for a second please?"

"Sure Hermione, what's up? Can't decide which of my house mates to kiss?" He joked not realizing how close to the mark he was.

"Oh, no I know exactly which Slytherin I want," She purred at him in her most flirty tone before pulling him close to her for a kiss. He was startled by her forwardness and impressed at her courage at the same time and let the kiss go on longer than necessary out of shock. "See you in class Draco," She said with a wink before sashaying back to her seat next to Ginny.

The Great Hall was in stunned silence. The know-it-all Gryffindor had just kissed the Slytherin Prince. Not only that but she had the guts to do it in front of his current girlfriend! Tonks was the only teacher who was laughing so she had to explain the dare to the others. Snape just watched in stunned silence as she approached his house's table and kissed his favorite student. The rumors around the school that morning were weather or not Hermione would be successful in stealing Draco away from Gabrielle.

At lunch time Gabrielle decided to get her dare done and headed over to the Gryffindor table. She decided to inflame the situation with Draco and Hermione a little bit by kissing Ron. She planted a big kiss on Ron and grinned as the table whistled and hollered as he turned as red as his hair. She then went back to her table and made a point not to sit by Draco. She was enjoying teasing him. Harry and Ginny had talked to Hannah and Justin earlier and decided to swap partners for the kiss so they wouldn't offend anyone or have anyone get any ideas. Dean and Seamus had bet Lavender and Pavarti 10 galleons each that they wouldn't have the guts to kiss Crabbe and Goyle so the two girls showed their Gryffindor sprit and earned themselves some spending money.

The Creevy brothers each kissed Hufflepuff girls in hopes they wouldn't get slapped and ended up with dates for the next Hogsmead weekend. Dean kissed Padma Patil and Seamus kissed Cho's rat of a friend Marietta. Ron and Draco were the only ones left to complete the dare by the end of lunch.

The teachers had to take multiple points off for students not paying attention in class. They were all talking about the dare that was going on and the result of the Quidditch match. The last game of the year would be Gryffindor vs. Slytherin for the Quidditch cup.

That night at dinner everyone was watching Draco and Ron carefully. Ron decided to get his over with first. He smiled as he walked over to the Hufflepuff table and sat next to Susan. He took her hand, whispered something in her ear and then gave her a short soft kiss on the lips. She smiled at him before he headed back to the Gryffindor table to finish his meal. Harry and Ginny patted him on the back as he sat down.

"So are you two and item now or did you just ask her to Hogsmead?" Hermione asked him with a knowing smile. She could tell as soon as she saw them dancing at the party in the Room of Requirement that they were perfect for each other. Susan even liked Quidditch!

"We are going to Hogsmead, how did you know that's what I asked her?" Ron asked her.

"I know you pretty well by now Ron. I'm glad you two are together or at least will be together." She told him with a smile. She was interrupted from continuing her speech when a pair of strong hands spun her around in her seat and a air of lips descended on her. She realized it was Malfoy and kissed him back. He was so startled by her kissing back that he stopped kissing her and headed back to his table. Gabrielle pretended to be upset and ran out of the hall leaving Malfoy to chase after her. Hermione just plastered a smile on her face and kept eating.

"Do you really have a thing for Malfoy?" Pavarti asked Hermione once all the commotion calmed down. "I mean you do realize that he is going to marry Gabrielle even if he liked you he couldn't be with you since she is his intended."

"Who says I want to marry him? I just want to have a little bit of fun. That's why I kissed him. I don't expect him to leave her for me or anything." Hermione told her. She was amused at how easy it was to manipulate people into believing something.

"That was so funny!" Gabrielle said as Draco got to the common room. "You should have seen your face when she kissed you back! You should know better than to try and get the best of the smartest witch in the school."

"I still can't believe that she kissed me in the first place! I know I was teasing her about liking a Slytherin but I figured she would just kiss a Hufflepuff or a Ravenclaw. I hate that damn Gryffindor courage. I decided that kissing her back would be funny, guess I was wrong." Draco huffed as he wrapped his arms around his girlfriend. "You're not mad at me are you?"

"Not unless you're mad that I kissed Weasley. It was a dare we had to complete. I'm afraid the dares will get worse over the summer at Headquarters. There won't be school rules to follow and I'm going to make the ball more interesting!" She told him as she curled up in his arms. "You know I was thinking about something that we found out during the dares."

"Oh really? What is that?" Draco teased sensing her playful tone.

"Harry and Ginny are further along in their relationship than we are, I was just wondering why?" She said with a wink before jumping off the couch and running toward the exit.

"You little tease!" Draco exclaimed and chased after her. "You know there is no reason for us to rush. We have the rest of our lives together. Besides I want to wait until we are married to do anything that could get us in trouble." He then proceeded to tickle her until the rest of the house returned from dinner to find them out of breath and clothing rumpled on the couch in front of the fire.

"I guess they made up," one of the other Slytherins laughed as the two tried to straighten their clothes. They knew what it looked like they had been doing but didn't bother to correct their house mates.

"Let's get out of here," Draco said with a smile as he pulled Gabrielle out of the common room. They had an EDA meeting so they needed an excuse to be gone anyway.

Chapter 44: Changing Appearances

"We're going to work on non-magical defense skills today," Harry told them. "I found a book of muggle defense techniques used to both dodge spells and disarm an attacker even if we can't use our wands."

"This looks like karate and yoga and a bunch of other martial arts and techniques rolled into one," Hermione said as she looked through the book.

They practiced moves for and hour or so before deciding to try them against spells. Harry and Draco faced off against each other. Harry without his wand to try the defense techniques did all right for the first few minutes. As he dove to the side to avoid a stunning spell Draco sent he smacked his head against the corner of a bookshelf and cut his head open. They had to carry him to the hospital wing.

"We were practicing defense maneuvers and he hit his head trying to dodge a spell," Ginny told Madame Pomfrey.

"He'll be fine as soon as I get this cut patched back together. Unfortunately I'll have to shave off his hair in that area to make sure I get the entire cut taken care of." She told them all.

"Can't make his hair any worse," Ron chuckled and got hit by both Ginny and Hermione. Hannah was helping Poppy tend to Harry and Draco went to get Remus.

Harry was awake again in a few minutes after Poppy stopped the bleeding. She shaved his entire head instead of just leaving part of it bald and part not. "I look hideous!" Harry exclaimed while looking in the mirror. "Ugg, I look awful without hair. I hope I don't ever go bald!" They all laughed at him and assured him that his hair would grow back soon before heading off to bed.

Remus and Tonks stayed with him for a while discussing wedding plans. "Hopefully your hair will be grown back by then," Tonks laughed. "I wouldn't want our pictures to have a hairless Harry in them."

"Ahhh," Harry groaned and put his face in his hands. "Grow, Grow, Grow!" He said wishing his hair to grow back. He didn't want to have to face the school tomorrow.

"Um, Harry, what did you just do?" Tonks asked sounding awed. Both she and Remus were looking at him with wide eyes.

"What do you mean?" He asked curious. She handed him the mirror back and he dropped it he was so shocked to see all of his hair had grown back. "Holly crap! Did I just do that? How is that possible?"

"What were you thinking just then?" Tonks asked him.

"I was willing my hair to hurry up and grow so I didn't have to face the school." Harry told her still admiring his full head of hair.

"Have you ever done something like this before?" Tonks asked him curiously.

"Once when my aunt cut all my hair off the next morning it was back to normal." Harry told her. "Does my hair have some sort of self preservation spell on it or something?"

"Try and see if you can will it to grow even longer. Image it as long a Snape's hair." She told him. "Really concentrate." Harry did as she told him and willed his hair to look like Snape's, except not to be greasy. When Remus gasped he stopped concentrating and looked at his dad. Remus showed him the mirror again and sure enough he had long jet black hair.

"So this is what his hair would look like if it was clean," Harry mused to himself admiring his new do. "Does this mean what I think it does?" He asked looking to Tonks who nodded. He focused again on changing his hair to look greasy and his nose to be hooked and his skin to become pale.

"AHHHH!" Poppy yelled as she walked over to them and saw what appeared to be a young version of Snape sitting on the bed where Harry used to be. Remus and Tonks started laughing and handed Harry the mirror again so he could see himself ala Snape.

"Awesome! I look like I could be his brother or something. We should go show Professor Dumbledore and see what he thinks!" Harry exclaimed.

"What is going on here?" Poppy asked them all.

"Harry was trying out his glamour charms and was playing around. He wondered if he could make himself look like Snape," Remus told her as they headed off to see the headmaster.

"Well Harry it seems you have another new power at your disposal," Albus chuckled as they entered his office. Snape was sitting in front of the fire and it looked like they had interrupted a game of wizards' chess.

"Well Potter you have cured me of my belief that if I had ended up with your mother our children would have been blessed with her looks." Snape said sarcastically. "My nose and hair and the only redeeming quality are the eyes. You could scare the student body walking around like that."

"Yeah, one Snape is enough to handle as it is," Tonks joked. "Try a different look Harry. The more you practice the easier it will be to change." Harry focused on changing again. He ended up with curly red hair and freckles with bright blue eyes. He even grew a few inches and had an earring.

"We should keep this new ability a secret to most everyone as well. As far as anyone is concerned about your hair growing back just say Poppy had a hair growth potion on hand." Dumbledore told him.

"I should make myself an alternate identity so that I can go out in public this summer without being mobbed by supporters and fans. I can become a Weasley cousin or even one of Remus' relatives. That way I can still hang out with my friends but not have to avoid the crowds." Harry told them.

"Sounds like a good idea; I'll start working on an alias for you." Dumbledore told him with a smile. "Any idea what you want your first name to be?"

"How about a unique name that will have a cool nickname? Something like Xavier so they can call me X!" Harry said happily as the adults all just laughed.

"Alright, we'll make you Xavier Lupin. Since most of Remus' family is unknown it will not be as obvious you are not who you say you are. Also, since he is getting married it would make sense that his family comes to visit." Dumbledore said.

"Just as long as he doesn't look like one of my relatives," Snape grumbled as they left the headmaster to his plans.

"So what do you think I should look like?" Harry asked Remus. "I think I'll go tell my friends what's going on and they can help me form a new identity." He said as he hurried to the Gryffindor common room.

"So what do you think?" Harry asked as they all sat in his and Ron's room. He was trying different faces and making them laugh. Finally Hermione was smart enough to pull out the photo album Harry had of his parents and friends to see what Remus looked like at his age so Harry could have some frame of reference.

They spent the next hour coming up with three different looks for Harry. One had sandy brown hair that was kind of shaggy and longer that swept into his face. He had grey eyes and a tan complexion. He made his face a little fuller with a slightly smaller build. His second look had him with dirty blonde hair that was in a short buzz cut with pale skin that looks almost sickly like Remus before a full moon. The eyes were a deep blue and he was thin but the same height. His third look had brown slightly curly hair that was to his shoulders and hazel eyes. He had slight freckles and an athletic build and big hands.

Hermione liked the first look with the sandy brown hair. Ginny liked the last one with the brown hair and Ron thought the dirty blonde one was the best. Somehow they all looked like he could be related to Remus.

"So which one do you like the best?" Harry asked Remus and Tonks the next day after classes. The three of them were having dinner together to go over some wedding plans. The guys were giving her a hard time about choosing her wedding attendants.

"I think either of the brown haired ones will be good. We don't want anyone to think you're a werewolf so let's avoid the blonde sickly looking one." Tonks told them.

"I say go with the brown one. The other looks too much like me and someone might think you're my kid instead of my nephew or whatever you'll be." Remus told him. "Besides you'll be able to tie back the longer hair where the medium hair will just get in your face."

They met with Dumbledore a few weeks later to show him Xavier's look. Dumbledore had papers made up showing that Xavier is Remus' nephew and godson. He was home schooled by his parents until they were killed in a muggle car crash last month. Xavier will be coming to live with Remus until he gets back on his feet. Arthur had the ministry draw up a birth certificate and history of Xavier Lupin. He was two years older than Harry and the gang and a fully qualified wizard with adequate scores on OWLs and NEWTs. Not enough to be an auror but enough to get a mediocre job someplace if needed. His received a large settlement from the car crash that killed his parents and therefore will not have to work for a while. They would introduce him and induct him into the Order just to keep up appearances.

The next morning Ginny was nervous and jumpy and went to meet with Dumbledore before breakfast. "Headmaster, its April 28th today, this is the day of the vision I had where Fleur was killed and Gabrielle taken out of class." She reminded him. "What am I to do?"

"We have preventative measures in effect already. There is nothing for you to worry about. We have done everything in our control to prevent what you saw, there is nothing else we can do but wait." The kindly old headmaster said while giving her shoulder a squeeze. "Just go to class and pretend everything is the same as any other day."

"Thank you sir," Ginny said as she made her way to breakfast. She was worried about her friends and what would happen later that day. The 6th years were all concerned with their test in DADA and didn't seem to notice that Ginny seemed more subdued than normal.

The exam was half way over when the door opened and Fleur walked in. She grabbed Gabrielle by the wrist and pulled her out of the classroom. They made their way down to the grounds and towards the forbidden forest. "What are you doing?" Gabrielle asked, she had never seen her sister act this way before. "Has something happened? Why did you take me out of my exam? I can't just leave without telling Draco and the teachers where I'm going!" She was worried that Fleur hadn't spoken yet.

They reached the edge of the forest and Gabrielle could see another Fleur tied to a tree and a Death Eater standing next to her. She decided she needed to think fast. "What is going on? Why am I being taken by the Dark Lord's followers? I am the intended of Draco Malfoy who is planning on joining the Dark Lord after graduation. He has worked his entire life to become the type of servant worthy to serve our lord." Gabrielle rambled trying to figure a way out of her predicament.

"He may be loyal but we do not know of your loyalty." The death eater sneered and Gabrielle recognized the voice as the 7th year boy who led the other Slytherins to the Dark Lord.

"My loyalty is unquestionable. I will be but a servant of my husband. I will do as he desires." Gabrielle said knowing she needed to keep them talking.

"Bitch," The imposter Fleur screamed at her. Gabrielle recognized Pansy's voice immediately.

"Pansy you are so pathetic. You question my loyalty just because you don't like that I got Draco and you didn't. I doubt the dark lord would be happy to realize you are so blinded by jealousy that you would do anything to get Draco." Gabrielle yelled at her.

"What are you talking about?" The death eater snapped.

"Pansy here would do anything to get me out of the picture so she could try and snag Draco. What she doesn't realize is that Draco would rather never marry or continue the Malfoy line if it meant having to be with her. He and I have bonded, not as much as when we marry but bonded none the less. If I were to die before bearing his heir he would never re-marry and the Malfoy line would forever be ended." Gabrielle said hoping her lie would be believed.

"So the two of you have slept together and formed a bond. This does make things difficult. We still need to test your loyalty. We cannot have you betraying our lord to protect your pathetic sister who had given herself freely to one of those muggle loving Weasleys." The death eater said.

"I will not betray out lord for my sister nor will I do her any harm." Gabrielle told them. "If she is hurt to test my allegiance you will fail as well as I. Veela are unable to harm their kin so I cannot even try. Let her go."

"Why so she can run off and tell that muggle loving fool they have the nerve to call Minister?" Pansy whined at her.

"I never said not to modify her memory you pathetic cow. I can't believe our lord would want followers as stupid as you. Not only are you pathetic but you didn't even finish school so you can't be half as powerful as his followers who did." Gabrielle said trying to enrage the girl into saying something that would show her disloyalty.

"I am a better servant than you will ever be. I will be on the arm of the lord's most powerful servant once Draco joins and then everyone will see how powerful I am. The Dark Lord will see what a valued servant I am and honor me for it." Pansy spat.

"Are you an idiot? The dark lord has no need for honoring his servants. Those who desire honor and power are not worthy of serving our lord. He deserves unswerving devotion to him alone. Anyone out to gain for themselves should be struck down by his mighty hand." Gabrielle said glaring at the girl who was starting to loose the effects of the Polyjuice potion.

"And you desire no honor for yourself? Everyone desires power for themselves. The Dark Lord promises rewards for faithfulness." Pansy told her.

"I desire nothing other than being allowed to marry Draco and the ability to serve once my schooling is complete. Our lord desires faithfulness and will reward for it even though we deserve no such reward." Gabrielle said and saw that the death eater was finally realizing what a fraud Pansy was.

The man turned to the real Fleur and modified her memory before stunning her and untying her. "Take care of this and do not let on that we were here. I will inform our master of Malfoy's continued devotion and your unswerving loyalty to your intended and to our lord." He then grabbed Pansy by the arm and pulled her deeper into the forest to apparate away with her.

Gabrielle revived Fleur and helped her up to the castle to speak with the headmaster. Dumbledore and Snape were waiting for them in the entry hall. "I see our plans were not entirely successful." Snape said bitterly. "How were you able to prevent your sister's death?"

"I convinced the death eater of my and Draco's continued loyalty and made him believe the whole idea was Pansy's trying to get revenge. They didn't kill Fleur because I convinced them I had already partially bonded with Draco and that he would never marry if I died. I also told him that Veela were unable to harm their own kin." Gabrielle told them.

"Good work Miss Delacour," Dumbledore told her. "Why don't you go back to class and finish your exam before lunch." The two professors were left to discuss how the vision was changed without anything being changed.

"Perhaps the vision was for another purpose?" Snape asked.

"I am not sure we did not change some aspect of the vision," Albus added. "I did not recognize the voice of the imposter Fleur in the vision but surely I would have recognized the voice of Miss Parkenson as easily as Miss Delacour did. Perhaps by preventing the attack on Hogsmead we changed who was assigned to ascertain Gabrielle's loyalty and she was able to talk her way out of the situation."

"Perhaps, but we shall never know." Snape said still pensive. "We should inform Miss Weasley that nothing bad has happened so she can relax and get back to her studies. In addition we should reinforce the wards to reject the signatures of the students who left to join the Dark Lord. It will take some time but will no longer allow any of them to enter in any form."

"Very good Severus, I'll let you work on that while I finish the exam schedule. I need to finalize the OWL and NEWT exam times with the ministry officials." He said as he headed off in the direction of his office leaving Snape to talk with Miss Weasley and take care of the wards.


	4. Chapters 45 & 46

Authors Note: Here are the rest of the chapters that I have written so far. I started this story in March on so that's why it is so far along. I think I only have a handful of chapters left to go. I am going to finish this off at the end of 6th year and start a new/continuing story for 7th year. Let me know if you have any ideas for 7th year. I am leaning towards a Snape/Hermione thing for the next story... but I don't really know. Enjoy and thanks for the great reviews!

Chapter 45: Meeting with Voldie

Snape reset the wards around the castle to make sure none of the students who had left to join the dark lord were allowed inside and sent Miss Weasley a short note saying that the crisis was avoided. He decided he should report to Voldemort and say he talked with a very distraught Gabrielle Delacour and an angry Draco Malfoy. It would be good for the Order for Snape to report this too him before being summoned. It was always preferable to give the Dark lord info first without it being discovered, that was the way to avoid being cursed.

Snape send Albus a note and apparated to the Dark Lord's side. "My lord," He said kissing the hem of the evil man's robes and making sure his mind was clear.

"Severus my son, what news do you bring me?" Voldemort asked. Snape was still not used to the preferential treatment, especially being referred to in such beloved terms.

"I just came from a meeting with young Draco Malfoy and his intended Gabrielle Delacour. Miss Delacour was quite distraught. It seems Miss Parkenson impersonated her sister, kidnapped her from class and dragged her to the forest where another death eater had her real sister tied up. The two then proceeded to question her loyalty and the loyalty of young Malfoy. Needless to say the two youngsters were upset that their loyalties were being questioned and wanted my advice on if they needed to do more to prove their allegiance to you my lord." Snape told the snake like man.

"Yes, I was afraid something like this would happen. We have too many new recruits who are impulsive and have not learned their place. I can understand why they captured the girl's sister who is marrying a muggle lover, but to try and test her loyalty without my consent!" Voldemort said and it was easy to tell he was becoming upset. "I have so few servants at the moment I hesitate to kill another one, but this Parkenson girl seems to be a liability. Why do you believe she did this?"

"Miss Parkenson was betrothed to young Malfoy before Miss Delacour was sorted into Slytherin. As soon as Malfoy realized he had a way to get out of marrying Miss Parkenson he canceled his betrothal to her and changed it to Miss Delacour. Miss Parkenson is blinded by her emotions. She believes herself to be in love with Malfoy although the marriage was a merger for power nothing else. Her attempts to gain Draco's favor recently had her ostracized by her fellow Slytherins for loosing so many points and bringing on the wrath of the other houses. She is unstable. She has always been loyal to you my lord, but I do not know if her loyalty to herself is more important to her than her loyalty to you." Snape was still reeling from having such a lengthy conversation without being hexed.

"She will be dealt with. The other death eater with her has already come to me and explained his actions. He was punished but I do not question his loyalty. Thank you for your report Severus, my loyalist of servants." Voldemort told him as Wormtail, who had been standing off to the side the whole time, glared at him. "Tell me, is Dumbledore planning anything yet?"

"No my lord," Snape said. "He does not believe in taking the offensive. In fact he did not even know the students would fight back or I am sure he would never have allowed their defense group. It seems Potter is the one to worry about, but since the attack he has been under close watch by all the teachers. Rumor is that he will be staying at Hogwarts over the summer so the old man can keep a close watch on him and keep him from making plans with his little friends. I do not believe Dumbledore will ever attack, he will just bide his time until we attack again." Albus had told him to feed that misinformation to the Dark Lord so he would take his time in re-grouping. By making it sound that Albus was upset by Harry and his friends' actions the story is more believable.

Severus relayed all of his conversation back to Dumbledore. The Order needed the summer to finish their plans of attack. Voldemort still only has a small number of followers and was having difficulties recruiting now that so many had been sent to Azkaban. The dark forces would not be a threat for a while but the Order planned to take advantage of their weakness.

Tonks finally decided to have two bridesmaids for her part of the wedding party. She asked both Ginny and Hermione to be her maids. That left Remus to find another attendant as well. "Who do you think I should ask?" Remus questioned his soon to be wife. "I was thinking of asking Severus but you know he hates attention as well as the fact that there would be suspicion of his true allegiance."

"You could pick any one of the Weasley boys or another Order member like Kingsley," She suggested. "I think you could still ask Severus. He may say no, but if you want him there shouldn't be any reason not to. We'll be safe from suspicion here at Hogwarts and only family and Order members are invited anyway."

"I'll think about it. I'm not sure Harry would be too comfortable with Severus standing up with him either. I might think about asking Bill Weasley but I don't want to upset Ron if Ginny, Hermione and Harry are all in the wedding and I ask his brother over him." Remus sighed. He wished the rest of his friends were still alive to see him marry.

"I know you miss them," Tonks said giving him a hug. "I lost track of most of my friends when I became an auror. I only had a few friends at school, nothing like how you, James and Sirius were. I am happy that we have friends now."

"When are you girls going shopping?" Remus asked to lighten the mood.

"This weekend in Diagon Alley. There isn't a Hogsmead weekend until next week so we figured it would be a good time to escape. Molly, Fleur and Gabrielle are joining us as well. It's going to be a real girl's day out!" Tonks smiled thinking of the troop of them trying on dresses.

Remus went to the staff room to finish up some paperwork before the staff meeting that night. Snape was already in the room reading a book when he got there. "Good evening Severus," Remus said as he sat down at the table.

"Remus," Severus said with a nod. "What are you doing here so early? I figured you would be busy with wedding plans." Snape said with a slight smirk.

"Tonks has most of that under control. I only have one or two things left to take care of." Remus said deciding that now would be a good time to ask him. "I was wondering if you might want to be involved in the ceremony Severus."

Snape looked up from his reading confused. Why would they want him involved? Didn't he have Harry to stand up as his best man? "I thought Potter was your attendant."

"Harry is my best man but Tonks couldn't choose a single bridesmaid so she has two and now I have to have another person to even things out." Remus told him. "I know you hate these kinds of functions, but..." Remus shrugged not knowing what else to say.

"What would be expected of me?" Snape asked wary of having to make a toast or some other uncomfortable task.

"You walk one of Tonks bridesmaids down the isle and stand beside Harry during the ceremony. Then at the reception you have to dance one song with the bridesmaid. We are incorporating some muggle traditions since Tonks is a half-blood. The wedding party dance is one of them." Remus told him.

"That sounds acceptable. I assume there will be specific robes required for me to wear?" Snape sneered. Remus nodded and tried not to smile at the thought of Snape out of his traditional teaching robes. "Then I accept this honor." Snape added. He knew that his relationship with Remus had gotten better over the years, but he never imagined he would be asked to be in the man's wedding. He had never been asked to be in anyone's wedding before and felt honored that the man who he used to hate would ask him.

"Thank you Severus. I do appreciate our friendship. I know we had a lot to overcome to get to this point." Remus started to say but finished quickly when the door to the staff room opened and the rest of the teachers filed in for the meeting.

"I wonder who Remus will pick to be his other groomsman," Hermione asked the next morning while she and Ginny were looking through dress magazines. "I hope it's not one of your brothers because Ron will feel very left out."

"You're just worried they'll make you walk down the isle with someone you don't like," Ginny smirked. "I'm guessing he'll ask another professor or order member. Maybe he'll ask Professor Flitwick since he's both!" They both giggled at the idea of tiny professor Flitwick walking her down the isle and having to dance with him.

"I've never been in a wedding before; this is going to be so much fun!" Ginny told her. "I don't have any real sisters so this might be my only chance."

"It won't be your only chance if I can help it." Hermione told her with a wink, "But I do have to find a man first." They laughed again. "What did you mean by real sisters?"

"I have 6 brothers who will eventually marry and they will be my sisters-in-law and then I have you. You've always been like the sister I never had." Ginny told her.

"I know what you mean; I feel the same way about you and the boys too. Remember that I'm an only child. I think one of the reasons I broke up with Ron was because he feels too much like my brother and that just gets weird!" Hermione said. "Come on we better get down to the entrance hall to meet up with Tonks and Gabrielle.

The four ladies were meeting Molly in the Leaky Cauldron so they used the Three Broomsticks to floo there since only Tonks can apparate. "I can't wait to get my apparating license this summer!" Hermione said as she dusted off the soot that was covering her. "It at least won't be as messy!"

"Are you old enough yet?" Gabrielle asked her curiously.

"It doesn't matter now that I'm a fully qualified witch. I can get all my certifications early." Hermione told her making Ginny grin as she realized the same was true for her. "The best part is being able to do this!" She said as she used a cleaning charm on all their robes. It was the first time she had done magic outside of school and it felt good.

Molly arrived shortly after them and they all headed off to the first dress shop in Diagon Alley. It was a tiny shop specializing in wedding and special occasion robes called Celebrations. The shop was filled with different fabrics, robes and accessories. They had a few racks of robes as well as multiple books of robes that could be made with all the different fabrics.

"There are so many dresses! How am I supposed to know what I want?" Tonks asked starting to get overwhelmed.

The sales lady came over. "I'm Mary, let me help you. Why don't you start by trying on some of the pre-made robes to get an idea of what you do and don't like. Then if we get an idea of what you're looking for we can look through the books and find the perfect dress for you."

"Do you want lots of frills or a more simple dress?" Hermione asked walking over to the racks with Ginny and Molly and Gabrielle headed over to the books. Tonks was standing still in the middle of the small shop letting everyone else direct her.

"Simple but pretty. I don't want to look like a walking wedding cake but it is my wedding so I'm thinking of more than just plan robes." Tonks said smiling that she had some idea of the direction to go.

Hermione and Ginny picked out about 10 dresses and sent Tonks to the dressing room to try them on so they could get her thoughts. "So what do you think of this one?" She asked as she emerged in the first dress. The nice thing with wizard robes versus muggle ones was the wizard one adjust automatically to fit the person trying them on so you can see exactly how it fits, not just guessing.

The girls just giggled at Tonks in the dress. It was a simple white lace dress. But the layers of lace on the straight dress made her look like a mummy, especially with the pink hair! "Are you going with pink hair for the wedding?" Hermione asked her. You might want to try the dresses on with the color hair you plan on having in case they look different with different hair.

Tonks changed her hair to its natural color of brown and went to try a different dress. After 5 more dresses that were not even close to what she wanted she found one that was close. It was a white satin dress that had an empire waist and sheer loose sleeves. The top of the dress was embroidered with silver thread and had a band of silver ribbon at the empire waist. The sleeves were very thin with silver sparkles.

"I really like this style and all the detail... except..." Tonks wrinkled her nose trying to figure out how to say what she wanted.

"Except you don't want silver details because you're marring Remus who we all know doesn't handle silver well," Hermione said smiling at Tonks who looked relived that she had put it so well.

"We can experiment with using different colors in the embroidery or even using different fabrics and details," Gabrielle told her as they all approached the bride to try and see what they could do to make the dress perfect for her.

"What if we change the dress to a cream color and the details to gold? I think gold details will look better on cream colored fabric." Molly spoke up. "Unless you want to go with something more wild like pink details!" They all smiled.

"You know that Remus half expects you to wear a hot pink dress," Ginny told her. "He loves you so much that you could wear your teaching robes and he wouldn't care." The others all laughed knowing that Remus was completely wrapped around her finger.

"Yes, but Harry wouldn't care what you show up in either yet we're letting you wear a pretty dress." Tonks told her with a wink. "I think cream with gold will look nice, let's try it. Mary came over and said the necessary spells and they tinkered with the dress for the next hour or so.

"Now you need accessories!" Gabrielle said as they headed over to see all the jewelry and head pieces. "Are you going to want a veil like muggles wear?"

"No, but I do want something in my hair. I'm not sure Remus would know what to make of a veil and lots of muggle women are getting married without them now anyway so my family won't be shocked like they would be if I showed up in pink!" Tonks told them all.

They found her the perfect head piece to wear that looked lovely in her light brown hair. They got all her lingerie and her stockings but couldn't decide on a necklace and decided to find one later. "We can head to the jewelry store after lunch to see if they have a necklace to go with your dress." Molly told her as they headed to the counter to pay for her dress and accessories.

"That comes to 2600 galleons," the sales lady said with a smile as Tonks eyes bulged out at the price. Ginny noticed the look and smiled. She knew how Tonks felt, 2600 galleons was a HUGE amount of money.

"Oh, I forgot!" Ginny said and hurriedly pulled a piece of parchment out of her pocket to give to the sales lady. "This should take care of the bill." Harry had given her a note with the instructions to charge anything that Tonks wanted to his Gringotts account.

The sales ladies eyes got huge and she hurriedly nodded at Ginny and put down the correct Gringotts vault for them to charge before handing the paper back to Ginny. "Thank you ladies for your business and I wish you the most happiness with your upcoming nuptials. Please stop by again some time!" She then handed them Tonks purchases and they left the store.

Tonks turned to Ginny, "Did Harry just pay for my wedding dress?"

"Yep, that and anything else you want. He says there is no limit for his future mum." Ginny told her laughing. "He said that he knew you would get freaked out by the cost and wanted you to have one less worry. He's buying Hermione and my dresses as well anything Gabrielle may want."

They all headed off to look in Madam Malkin's for bridesmaid dresses to compliment Tonks' dress. Madame Malkin hurried over once she saw the Weasleys knowing that she needed to make a good impression on the minister's wife and daughter. She was very excited to help the two girls with their bridesmaids' dresses. Mrs. Weasley went off with Gabrielle to look for new dress robes for the occasion.

After two hours of trying on dresses the girls had not found what they wanted but Mrs. Weasley and Gabrielle were all set with very pretty dress robes and accessories. They decided it was time for lunch and headed off to eat. "We'll go look for a necklace for me after lunch and then head into muggle London to find dresses for the two of you since it seems that is the style you were both thinking of anyway." Tonks told them as they ate. They said goodbye to Mrs. Weasley after lunch who didn't want to go to muggle London or jewelry shopping.

They all headed toward the jewelry shops. The first store was mostly rings and smaller pieces and they had decided that she needed an impressive large necklace to compliment her dress. "You need a necklace like what royalty used to wear that covers your neck and is like an extension of your dress." Gabrielle had told her. "If you still can't find something by the end of the day we may have to send Fleur to France to find something."

The entered the final store in town to find Remus, Harry (looking like Xavier) and Severus looking through the ring cases. "What are you boys doing in London?" Tonks asked startling them since they didn't expect to run into the girls while shopping for Tonks' wedding band.

"Same as you, we are shopping for wedding things." Remus told her giving her a kiss. "We figured your idea to get out of the castle was a good one as well.

"We are trying to find a necklace for Tonks to wear with her dress," Gabrielle said as she headed to the correct section and started browsing. After they realized the store had nothing in its cases that matched what they wanted she sighed. "Do you have anything larger?" She asked the shopkeeper. "We are looking for something resembling what royalty used to wear. Large and covering most of the neck."

"You don't see anything like that in the wizarding world anymore unless it's in a private collection of one of the old pureblood families. There is just no market to make such an item. You might want to look in muggle London or if you know exactly what you want I can have it commissioned." The store owner told them.

"We're heading to muggle London now anyway. We can look while we are there. We'll let you know if we need it commissioned." Gabrielle told him.

They said goodbye to the men and headed off to the Leaky Caldron to go into muggle London. The girls took off their robes to reveal their muggle clothing underneath. Even Gabrielle had worn wearing muggle clothing just in case. They shrunk the robes and pocketed them before heading out and hailing a cab to take them to the major shopping areas of town.

Chapter 46: Hidden Royalty

The guys finished picking out Tonks' wedding band, got their dress robes and went to Headquarters for dinner. "We should help Tonks find the perfect necklace." Harry told Remus trying to get him to remember the 'special' drawer in the jewelry case in the vault.

"Why don't we go check the vault?" Remus asked him. "You know that you can trust Severus and he is going to live her over the summer so he'd probable end up finding out anyway.

The three headed to the vault and over to the very large jewelry case. Severus was impressed with the size of the collection. "I knew the Blacks were well off, but I never expected them to have anything other than dark items."

You haven't seen the best part of the collection yet." Harry said as they finished checking the collection. "This is Remus and my best kept secret, so make sure this info stays between us." Harry made sure there was nothing in the drawer and then told them all to focus on the perfect necklace for Tonks to match her wedding dress.

Harry opened the drawer and pulled out a very large but gorgeous necklace. It was gold with diamonds. The details were delicate and the golden threads were interspersed by the diamonds. "Wow!" Severus said in one of his rare inarticulate moments. "How did you do that?"

"This drawer works a lot like the room of requirement. It senses what you want and creates it using the base materials of gems and metals that are over there," Harry said pointing to the stash of gold, silver, gems and other materials. "This is what we used to find the perfect engagement rings and jewels for the inauguration."

"This is how you made Tonks ring with moonstone and hot pink sapphires?" Snape asked, "I was wondering how you found such a creation in a jewelry store."

"It also made Fleur's ring and rings for Ginny and Hermione whenever they get married." Harry said showing Snape the bag with the two remaining rings in it.

Snape admired the ring with the large emerald surrounded by rubies and diamonds. "I believe this was meant for Miss Weasley," He said watching Harry nod. The other ring was beautiful. It was a large heart shaped diamond with small round diamonds around it. "This ring looks almost exactly like the ring my grandmother wore. She never took it off. She was buried with it because she could never be parted from it. I always thought it was the most beautiful ring and would be a perfect engagement ring. Who did you have in mind for this one?"

"I thought it was for Hermione since I was imagining what my 3 favorite girls would want when we were looking for the perfect ring for Tonks. This ring is very much like what muggle engagement rings look like. They are mostly always diamonds. I thought of her when I saw it." Harry told him as a look of shock passed Snape's usually closed features.

"We should put those away and get back to school," Remus said breaking the reverie. "I don't think either of those rings will be used for a while. You all are way too young to marry and besides there are battles to be fought first."

"That's true; I don't want to marry Ginny until Voldemort is defeated. As much as I would love to marry her soon, I just couldn't live with myself if something happened to her." Harry told his dad.

"I did not realize you and Miss Weasley were that close," Snape said. "Although I should have realized that Potter men never let go of what they want."

"I was hoping you would pair me with Ginny for the wedding ceremony. I might feel kind of weird having to watch as she danced with Snape," Harry asked Remus.

"That shouldn't be a problem." Remus said with a laugh.

"Miss Weasley is one of the bridesmaids?" Snape asked in surprise. "That means that either Miss Granger or Miss Delacour is the other one? The one that I'll have to escort?"

"Escort and dance with," Remus chuckled. "I know Hermione is a good dancer so you'll have to make sure you don't step on her toes."

"I'll have you know that all purebloods are taught to dance at an early age. I was forced to attend royal galas when I was younger before the royal family went into hiding from the death eaters." Snape told them.

"Why would you have to go to royal functions?" Harry asked him curiously. He knew next to nothing about Snape other than his part in the order.

"My family are Lords. When my father passed away I officially took over all his titles and became Lord Snape. I keep my background quiet since there is no real use for it since the royal family is hiding. You are also a lord since you are the only one of your family you would officially be Lord Potter with all the titles pertaining to it." Snape told them all.

"Do you think the royals will come out of hiding once the war is over? I am surprised they stayed in hiding after Voldemort's supposed first fall." Remus said.

"They are very smart individuals. I am sure they realized there was no proof he had actually been defeated. I believe they are under the Fidelius charm someplace. I am sure they will surface once the war is over. Can you imaging living a lie for that long?" Snape commented.

"Living a lie?" Harry asked.

"Most people who undergo the Fidelius change their appearance and then choose to live as muggles so they can have some semblance of a normal life." Remus told him. "I wonder if they can even take the charm off? If their secret keeper died..."

"I'm sure they keep track of the wizarding world. The king and queen may have passed on by now but the prince and his wife would not be much older than us. I wonder if they have had any children." Snape commented. "When I was young my mother and the queen were friends. They said it was a shame our two families couldn't join since they both had boys. When the prince married so young their conversations turned to having me marry any daughters the prince might have. I believe they may have even formally betrothed me; I could never get a straight answer out of my mother before she died. She was devastated when they went into hiding."

"How old would the prince be now?" Harry asked since this was interesting information that he had never heard about the wizarding world.

"He is 5 to 10 years older than us I think," Snape told him referring to Remus and himself. "He married young and may have many children even grandchildren by now. They went into hiding late during our 7th year when Voldemort was gaining so much power and started killing those who stood in his way."

When they got back to the school the friends all got together in the room of requirement and Harry told them what he had learned about the royal family and how both he and Snape were lords.

"I read a book about them before I came to Hogwarts," Hermione told them. "My mother insisted that we buy it saying that if I was running off to a new society I should know as much as I could about how it was run. It really is too bad they went into hiding they were doing a very good job with things. They worked kind of like the British royal family and the Ministry worked like parliament. The minister of magic didn't have as much control with them around. If they had stayed Fudge wouldn't have been able to screw so much stuff up."

"Is there anything you don't learn from books?" Ron asked jokingly.

"I figured out you were a prat all on my own," she shot back and they all laughed.

"I'm a lord now too since my father is dead," Malfoy told them all. "Longbottoms were appointed lordship as well due to their continued service to the royal family. Mrs. Snape and Old Mrs. Longbottom were very close friends according to my mother who loved to gossip about how things used to be."

"My gran was friends with the queen?" Neville asked shocked. "She has never mentioned that she even knew them."

"Well I didn't even know there was royalty in Brittan!" Gabrielle told them as the Creevys, Justin, Hannah, and Luna nodded as well.

"Mum has mentioned them once or twice. Mostly it was when Fudge did something stupid and she lamented their loss. I just assumed they were dead, I didn't realize they may still be alive." Ginny said as Ron agreed.

"How do you determine wizard royalty?" Hannah asked the room.

"The royals are descendents of Merlin himself. Theirs is the oldest of all bloodlines." Hermione told them. "Most of the lords and ladies are from other old bloodlines. There are a few others that were granted their tiles more recently for exemplarity service." Hermione told them like she was reciting from the book she read almost 7 years ago. "Most of the Lords have actual tiles like Duke, Earl or Baron. There are even a few Countesses."

"What was their name?" Justin asked.

"The surname for the current Royals is Kensington, the King and Queen were King Edward and Queen Amelia, their son was Prince Phillip and his wife was Victoria." Draco told them all, impressed with himself for remembering those facts.

"Why was Snape with you guys today anyway?" Ginny asked Harry.

"Oh, that's because Remus asked him to be his other attendant for the wedding." Harry said enjoying the shocked look on the girls' faces. "Looks like Hermione will be escorted up the isle by him. The whole royal conversation happened when Remus joked with him about dancing with her. Supposedly he was forced to go to royal parties when he was young and had to know how to dance."

"I'm with Snape for the wedding?" Hermione asked again, trying to process that she would be on her professor's arm and have to dance with him.

"Yeah, Remus said I could escort Ginny so that leaves Snape to escort you." Harry told her smiling.

The next few weeks were spent studying for finals and the Quidditch team getting ready for the finals against Slytherin. "How am I supposed to pass my OWLs with all the extra practices you two are calling?" Ginny yelled at the boys. "This is not the World Cup; we all still have school work to do! Between prefect duties, DA and Quidditch I barely have time to finish my assignments let alone start revising for OWLs! If I didn't have Hermione helping me organize I wouldn't even have time for the 4 hours of sleep I'm getting each night!"

The boys just looked at her and hung their heads. They were going overboard on practices and they didn't want Colin and Ginny to do poorly on their newts. "OK, we'll drop the number of practices to 2 per week and one on the weekend." Ron said trying to calm his sister. "And Harry and I will help with your prefect duties as well so you have extra study time." Ginny finally calmed down and went to sit by Hermione to study. The common room was quiet lately knowing the 5th and 7th years were uptight about their exams.

The next morning at breakfast Harry received a letter. He opened it and broke out into a huge grin. He handed it to Ron to read out loud:

Dear Mr. Potter,

We have been watching you play Quidditch since your 1st year. Now that you are of age we will be coming to scout you for the open seeker position on England's International Quidditch team. We will be in the teacher's box during your upcoming match with Slytherin to see you play first hand. If we like what we see you will be receiving an official invitation to attend seeker try outs during the last week of June. Try-outs are invitation only. We will be seeing you at you next match. Good Luck!

Everett Smith

Quidditch Scout

English National Team

"Wow Harry that's great!" Ginny said giving him a hug. He was smiling but still looked in shock. "They think you're good enough to try out for England!"

"Yeah mate, some of the seekers from the club teams don't even get asked to try out! This is a huge honor!" Ron said ignoring his breakfast for once in honor of Harry's news. "Can you imagine how cool it would be to play for England during the world tournament!"

"I still have to play well against Slytherin to even make the try-out list." Harry reminded them before they all went and got their hopes up.

"Just having a scout come to watch you shows how good you are Harry!" Ron told him. "You should go tell Remus and Dumbledore!"

Harry hurried up to show his dad the letter. The two spent the rest of breakfast discussing Quidditch theories and what moves to use to best impress the scouts. Even professor McGonagall and Madame Hooch joined in. "We haven't had a student be scouted for Quidditch while still attending here in all the time I've taught here." McGonagall went on to say.

"There have been a few offered invitations to try out for the franchise teams but never for the international team! This is so exciting!" Hooch said before they switched back to talking strategy.

"It's lucky we are playing Slytherin," Harry told them and continued seeing their confused faces. "Slytherin is very good this year and it will be a close match. If they watched a match where we won quickly I wouldn't have a chance to impress them. Going up against Malfoy who is a good seeker will help showcase my abilities."

"But wouldn't you be better going up against a seeker you knew would be easy to beat?" Remus asked him.

"Nope, I always play better against Malfoy and Slytherin. This will be fun now that the game should not be as bloody. Besides I have not lost to Malfoy yet and I don't plan to start now." Harry told them with a smile.

The practices that week were all about getting Harry ready for the game. They focused on making sure they played a good clean game and the beaters (Creevy brothers) were told to focus on keeping Harry out of danger and giving Malfoy a hard time. Al the other games against Slytherin Malfoy tailed Harry instead of looking for the snitch himself and Harry just hoped he would keep up his habit so he could showcase some moves.

Harry spent every waking moment out on the pitch getting ready and making sure he could execute all his moves flawlessly. He had been working on quite a few new 'secret' moves and was planning on pulling out a few of them for the scouts. He was very daring on his broom, one of his new moves included letting go of the broom and holding on only with his feet and ended with him flipping his broom around and going off in the other direction. He still had his favorite dives where he would get close enough to skim the ground with his toes before pulling up.

This was going to be a match to remember. It was the first time anyone can remember the Slytherin and Gryffindor teams getting along as well as the only time in recent history that a scout had come to a game.

Next chapter will be Chapter 47: Slytherin vs. Gryffindor


	5. Chapters 47 through 50

_AN: This is the rest of the story. It ends with the train ride home. I will write a separate story for their summer and 7th year. Enjoy the last 3 chapters! I you want to read this as single chapters go to __ since that was where this was originally posted._

Chapter 47: Slytherin vs. Gryffindor

The morning of the match Harry was trying to calm his nerves. The Gryffindors had thrown him an impromptu party last night to give him there support. It was basically everyone sitting around talking about all of their past Quidditch games. Even Hermione joined in to the Quidditch talk when she reminded him that his very first catch of the snitch was already in Hogwarts: A History for being the only time the snitch was caught by the seekers mouth!

Everyone was up early that morning to crowd around him on his way to breakfast. He knew he had to eat to keep up his strength but couldn't imagine a heavy breakfast with all the butterflies in his stomach. "I feel like the match started hours ago but in my stomach instead of out on the pitch!" He told his friends as they tried to force feed him. "I'm more nervous today than I was at my first game!"

"That's because you didn't know what to expect before and you had the excuse that it was only your first game if you did badly. You don't get to use that excuse today!" A voice said happily from behind him.

"You could be a little more supportive here Malfoy, this is a big day for him. As his friend you should be sympathetic to him not condescending." Hermione said trying to defend her stressed out friend.

"Maybe when you choke out there they'll let me try out for England," Draco said egging him on. He knew that Harry played better when he could just concentrate on beating the other team. If he got him upset enough he would focus on doing everything in his power to take down Slytherin. Malfoy knew he wasn't good enough to make the English team but he thought Potter had a pretty good chance.

"I heard they were looking for male cheerleaders, maybe you should try out for that. Although since you are such a pretty boy they might want you in one of the skirts," Harry shot back. He knew what Draco was doing. All those hours of Occlumency training and he could easily read when people were sincere or not. He also knew that getting riled up was exactly what he needed to focus on the game.

"It's such a shame the scouts weren't here for the game that you passed out and fell off your broom. It would be a shame if that happened again, a waste of a perfectly good broom." Draco was enjoying himself. Even though he liked Harry now, he missed the taunting repartee they used to have.

"I could beat you using one of the schools brooms. It's not about the broom, it's about the talent. Some people have some don't. How many times have you caught the snitch against me?" Harry was getting into it now and was starting to look forward to wiping the smirk off the blonde Slytherin.

The taunting went on for another few minutes until Gabrielle came over to drag Draco away to eat breakfast. "You'll show him Harry. That stupid arrogant git will be eating his words when we kick there arse!" Ron growled in between bites.

Ginny and Hermione smiled at each other, they both had figured out what Draco was up to but Ron was as dense as normal. The team finished eating and headed down to the changing rooms for the pre-game pep talk. Hermione hurried over to Neville so they could plan the decorations for the Gryffindor stands. They wanted to go all out to show their support for Harry.

She stood up on the bench of her table once they had finished talking to make her announcement to the rest of the school. She waited until the Slytherin team had left just to be courteous. "If anyone is interested in purchasing a flag, button or banner with 'Potter for President' on it as well as ones with 'Harry's My Hero' I'll be in the entrance hall directly following breakfast. My associate Mr. Longbottom will also have rosettes that play Weasley is our King the Gryffindor version and assorted other team merchandise. Please come out and support Harry in the biggest game so far of his Quidditch career." Hermione finished her sales pitch and she and Neville headed out to the entrance hall to set up shop.

They had asked permission to sell these trinkets last week and had convinced the twins to help them enchant all the merchandise. There were even Weasley Wizarding Wheezes logos on the backs of everything (in exchange for their help). Hermione un-shrunk the three trunks full of stuff and conjured two tables to sell it from and cash boxes for the money. They were selling all the stuff at just barely over cost, just enough to finance the very large party they had planned for after he received his invitation to tryout for the team.

There were very few students who didn't stop by the 'Potter Shop' before the game. There were even some Slytherins who bought some 'Harry's My Hero" buttons. They had made special outfits for Tonks and Remus to wear and new hats for McGonagall and Dumbledore. Hermione had to hand it to the twins; they really ran with her ideas. Tonks had changed her appearance to look like a female version of Harry, complete with hot pink curse scar. Hermione had made her a gold t-shirt with red lettering that read 'I'm Harry's Mum!' just because Harry liked to tease her like that. They made Remus a red shirt with gold writing that changed to three different sayings: 'My Son is #1', 'Potter Fan' and everyone's favorite 'I Howl for Harry'. She had only asked the twins for the first two but it seems they couldn't help themselves.

They hurried and shrunk the rest of the stuff and raced down to the pitch where Lavender and Parvarti were saving them front row seats and hanging up posters and large banners with the 'Potter for President' or 'Harry's My Hero' slogan on them. Over ¾ of the stadium was decked out in Gryffindor colors and cheering for Harry. You could even see the scattered Harry button or flag in the sea of green that was the Slytherin section.

The entire Weasley family (minus Charlie) turned up in the teacher's box to watch the match. The nice thing about being Minister of Magic was Arthur was able to come to any of the games. The family was decked out in Harry paraphernalia as well. Fred and George had painted their faces gold so with their red hair they looked like walking Gryffindor posters.

Finally Dumbledore entered the teachers' box followed by four wizards. Three of them had on English International team colors and was sporting Gryffindor colors and looking kind of familiar to Hermione. She pulled out her omnioculars and looked at the scouts. She wondered if Harry would be more nervous since there were four of them than the 1 or 2 he was expecting. "It's Oliver!" She yelled happily once she saw a close up of the fourth wizards face.

"Oliver Wood?" Neville asked her. "What do you think he's doing here with the scouts?"

"I don't know, but if he is a scout as well then Harry has a much better chance of getting a tryout. Oliver knows how talented Harry is." Hermione was excited to see the boy she used to have a secret crush on back in 3rd year. He had been in 7th year and was always nice to her since she was friends with Harry. Plus he was one of the handsomest wizards she had ever met. She knew it would never be more than an infatuation since he seemed even more obsessed with Quidditch than Ron, but she didn't mind the view!

"How is it possible that he got even cuter?" Parvarti whispered to Lavender while they stared at Oliver. Hermione smiled to herself knowing that she wasn't the only one who liked his look. The difference is that she wouldn't do anything to try and get his attention where the two girls next to her were already plotting ideas on how to ask him to join them for the victory party after the match.

"We do have to win the match first," Hermione reminded them enjoying their blushes as they realized she could hear all their scheming.

Everett Smith, the head scout for the English team introduced his colleagues to Dumbledore as Ted Newman of the Wasps and Billy Goodman of the Cannons. He was the only fill time scout for England but the two helped him scout from all the current teams. Oliver Wood was still playing for Puddlemore United and had already been offered the keeper position for the English team.

"It's good to see you again Wood!" McGonagall said happily as she shook hands with her former Quidditch captain student.

"It is great to be back," Wood said smiling at his old professors. "I can't believe how many are cheering for Gryffindor!" He laughed as Fred handed him a 'Potter for President' flag. "These will sell very well if he makes the team!" They laughed and Wood went to sit next to his former team mates. "Hello Professor Lupin," Oliver said to the man next to him. He was between George and Lupin.

"Nice to see you Mr. Wood. Congratulations on making the English team." Remus told his former student.

"Thank you," Wood said and then caught sight of Tonks and her t-shirt and laughed. "You look just like him! Hi I'm Oliver I used to play on the team with Harry," He said to her extending his hand.

"I'm Tonks, I teach DADA with Remus. Harry's told me stories about you and your speeches before the matches. I hear they are legend around here." She said laughing.

Harry was pacing in front of the rest of the team during his pre-game pep talk. "I don't care what it takes but we are not letting those snakes get the cup this year! They may be nicer and some are even our friends but they are Slytherin and all Gryffindors know that they fight dirty and unfair. Don't think that because they don't taunt you in the halls anymore that they won't try and knock you off your broom. We need to go out there and play hard and play strong. We have practiced for this game all season. You all know your moves. Malfoy thinks he can walk all over us. I say lets get out there and show them they should rue the day they ever thought they could beat us." He put his hand together in the middle of the players and they all yelled "Go Gryffindor!" before heading out to the field.

Lee Jordan had come back to commentate the game since they still had not found another student good enough to do it. He introduced the two teams two applause. There was no booing for the first time in recent history. Harry and Ron shook hands with Malfoy and the players all mounted their brooms waiting for Madame Hooch to release the quaffle.

Ginny grabbed the red ball as soon as it was released and sped toward the Slytherin goal. "Weasley with the quaffle, she speeds around the Slytherin chasers and avoids a collision with Goyle. She fakes a pass to Finnigan and scores! 10 points to Gryffindor and a great shot by the youngest Weasley." Lee continued. "Slytherin in possession heading toward the middle of the pitch, Ouch! Great work there by beater Dennis Creevy who knocks the quaffle away and into the waiting arms of Gryffindor chaser Dean Thomas. Thomas to Finnigan who dodges a bludger hit by Crabbe."

The game was very fast pace; the two teams were well matched. Harry and Draco were hovering above the action. Harry noticed that Draco seemed to be sticking with his usual 'mark Potter' strategy and had yet to try and watch for the snitch himself. Harry had seen the snitch the minute he took to the air and could have ended the game in less than 30 seconds but realized that would not be the way to show off his skills. Since Draco had not seen it he let it go to find later.

Harry decided it was time to try some of his moves. He started by slowly circling the pitch looking for the snitch but keeping Malfoy in vision at all times. Harry heard the bludger approaching before he ever saw it and had plenty of time to institute his new move the 'Bludger Beater'. It was an adaptation of the sloth grip roll but instead of actually turning around his broom he used his broom to rotate him. He had been perfecting his spinning moves and had figured out how to rotate his broom in a full circle just by shifting his body weight the correct way. He quickly executed his move and rotated 180ï to avoid the bludger then completed the turn once it passed him. He liked this move because if someone was tailing him, like Malfoy had been at the moment, they didn't have time to react to the bludger.

The stands erupted in cheers as Harry expertly avoided the bludger and it grazed Malfoy. If Draco had been following any closer he wouldn't have had time to duck. The scouts looked at each other with raised eyebrows at Harry's maneuver. Harry had given Lee an enchanted list of his new secret moves that would stay blank until he performed one of them. Once he successfully performed his move the parchment would show what he had named the move and a description of it for Lee to tell the spectators.

"That was a new move Potter invented called the Bludger Beater. Using his broom he literally flies a 360ï circle in the air allowing the bludger to fly past and hopefully hit anyone tailing him." Lee called out as the paper came to life. He was excited to be the first one to be able to comment on Harry's new moves. "I would say this move would quickly become a favorite of seekers everywhere if anyone else could fly like that."

Malfoy was not following as closely after the close call with the bludger. Gryffindor had scored 5 more times but Ron was having a great game not letting a goal in yet making the score 60 to 0 Gryffindor. Harry could hear the cheers of 'Weasley is our King' as Ron blocked yet another shot. It was time to pretend he had seen the snitch to throw off Malfoy. Harry gave the pitch one last look over to make sure he didn't actually see the little gold ball before he whipped his head in the other direction, put on a look of concentration and dove toward the Slytherin side of the pitch. He weaved in between the other players and easily avoided another bludger hit his way by Goyle. Draco was hurrying to catch up to him, cursing himself for allowing Harry to get so far away. The stands were in an uproar thinking that Harry had found the snitch. Harry darted through the right goal post, effectively distracting the seeker while Ginny scored in the left hoop, and dove straight toward the ground. When he was four feet from the ground he pulled out of the dive. He usually pulled out earlier so Malfoy was convinced the snitch was in front of him and gave it his all. As soon as Harry pulled out of the dive he stopped and let Malfoy fly past him.

As he casually flew up to his usual hovering height he heard Lee say, "A perfectly executed Wronski Feint by Potter. He had all of us including Malfoy convinced he saw the snitch. Brilliant flying and a spectacular dive." The scouts were in agreement with the commentary. Everett noted that Harry even took the time to distract the opposing keeper so his team could score while in his feint.

"I taught him that move, but it just seems so much more than when he was younger," Wood commented as he and the Weasley's cheered him on.

The game continued on for a while with Gryffindor leading 90 to zero. The Slytherin chasers had missed or Ron had blocked at least 7 goals. It was the best anyone could ever remember seeing Ron play. The scout from the Chudley Cannons turned around to address Mrs. Weasley. "Do you know if there are any teams your son is interested in trying out for when he's done with school?"

"Well I'm sure he'd be honored to try out for any team but he is a true Cannons fan. His entire room at home is decorated in Cannons posters and colors. I know it's always been his dream to play for them." She told the man with a small smile.

"I'm actually with the Cannons, Madame. I will talk with my staff about sending out a tryout invitation to him next year." He told her as they discussed Ron's stats for a few minutes while there was not much action in the match. A few minutes later the one of the Slytherin chasers had a breakaway with the quaffle. He flew towards Ron an aimed at the left goal. The chaser faked throwing the ball causing Ron to fly toward the left goal. The chaser then tossed to quaffle to his team mate by the right goal who quickly tossed it in before Ron could get back.

"And Slytherin finally scores!" Lee commentated. "That was great team work by the Slytherin chasers. There was no possible way Weasley could have stopped that goal."

Ginny flew by Ron and reminded him there was no way he could have stopped that goal. "You can't be in two places at once Ron. Don't worry about it; they were going to get one in eventually. Shake it off, stay focused." She yelled before taking off toward the Slytherin who had the Quaffle. She flew low below the Slytherin chaser who didn't see her. As soon as the chaser raised his arm to pass to his team mate she shot straight up in the air grabbing the quaffle out of his outstretched hand. She rose quickly into the air and shot toward the hoops.

Lee laughed as he looked at Harry's enchanted parchment. "That was Ginny Weasley's patented new move she has been working on in practice. Harry Potter has dubbed it 'Pop Goes the Weasley' as it is a surprise capture of the quaffle at the exact point the other team is about to pass. Weasley flew low below the opposing chaser waiting to pop up and steal the quaffle. I think it is a move that will shortly become very popular."

The students in the stands all laughed at Harry's name for Ginny's new move. The game had been in full swing for almost an hour already and the score was 110 to 10 in favor of Gryffindor. The Slytherin team was playing well; they just couldn't seem to be able to get past Ron. Harry was having fun annoying Malfoy by flying in figure-8s and zigzagging around the pitch. He knew Draco's strategy was to follow him closely and it was amusing to play follow the leader. He flew into position to start his new feint move.

Harry started when he was facing the Slytherin goal, flying lower than his normal cruising altitude. Making sure Malfoy was paying attention he hurried an jerked his head around and quickly turned his broom with a look of glee on his face and took off up into the air toward the other end of the pitch. The spectators all turned their attention to the seekers now thinking that Harry had seen the snitch. Harry kept climbing into the air until he knew Malfoy was hooked as well as the crowd. Finally he leveled off his broom and just hovered, waiting for Malfoy. Harry just grinned at Draco, winked and then flew back down toward the game.

"That was the newest feint move out of Harry Potter's personal arsenal. He created this move after realizing that there were no feints that incorporated an upwards climb. He really had us all fooled with that one! Nice move Potter!" Lee called as the stands all cheered for their favorite hero and his ways of keeping the match interesting. The scouts were all impressed with Harry's creativity as well as his skills as a seeker. He had great presence out on the pitch and it was as if he had radar to detect incoming bludgers.

"I thought he was good when I was in school," Wood told George. "But he is phenomenal now. He started out as the best seeker the school has ever seen and I have a feeling before the end of the world cup there will be many calling him the best seeker the world has ever seen. And to think that I was the one who taught him how to play!" The twins grinned at their old captain and his love of the game.

"Don't cry now Wood. If these gentlemen here are smart they'll have Harry on your team in short order!" Fred told him with a pat on the shoulder. "Now if they let us try out for the beater position we might have an even better shot..." They all laughed knowing that the twins may have been good at Hogwarts but were no where near good enough to play professionally.

Slytherin scored 2 more times in the next half hour of play. Ginny had scored twice as well as Dean once, making the score 140 to 30 Gryffindor. The Slytherins were starting to revert back to their normal underhanded ways. The game was not going in their favor and as reformed as they might be, Slytherins hate to loose. Madame Hooch had to award four penalties to Gryffindor already and warned Crabbe and Goyle that they were only to hit the bludgers with the bat not the other players. The Creevy brothers took it upon themselves to turn it back on the Slytherins and made sure all their bludgers were aimed at Malfoy.

Draco had just dodged another bludger and was busy glaring at his bodyguards for not protecting him when Harry saw it. Down near the ground in the middle of the pitch and heading toward the Gryffindor goals was the golden snitch. Harry grinned and dove. It was almost directly below him. He was flat against his broom at almost a 90ï angle from the ground. The crowd all gasped at his intense dive. That was when Lee saw the snitch and yelled that "Potter has seen the snitch! Look at that vertical dive; he is fearless and graceful at the same time." Draco knew he had no chance of catching Potter. He didn't notice Harry dive right away thanks to the bludgers that seemed always headed in his direction. He raced after the messy haired boy with the faster broom hoping that the snitch would alter course and bring it closer to him.

Harry was in his element. Everything else in the world just disappeared as soon as he focused on the winged golden ball. He pulled out of his dive as the snitch moved closer to the Gryffindor hoops. The crowds were wildly cheering him on even though he couldn't hear them he was so focused. He reached out his arm toward the ball and wrapped it in his gloved hand. The roar of the crowd and the sounds of the game came back to him as he lifted the snitch into the air so all could see. His smile was huge as he flew up to meet the rest of his team.

"Harry Potter receives 150 points for catching the golden snitch. Final score of the match is Gryffindor 290, Slytherin 30." Lee said while clapping along with everyone else in the stand. "With that victory Gryffindor wins the Quidditch Cup!" The Gryffindor team were trying to head to the ground while all still tangled in a group hug. The stands were all still cheering and Gryffindor House was jumping up and down and hugging each other.

The teachers' box was alive with the sounds of jubilation. All the Weasleys, Remus, Tonks, Oliver and McGonagall were all laughing and cheering. All the other teachers, save Snape, were clapping and looking pleased. McGonagall headed over to Snape, "Good match there Severus, better luck next year."

He scowled at her before retorting, "And how will next year be any different? As long as Potter is around we might as well forgo the matches and just give you the Cup now." He grumbled as he made his way out of the stands and back to the sanctuary of his dungeons. Dumbledore just chuckled as he heard his potions master's comment. They all filed down to the pitch for the presentation of the Quidditch Cup.

Chapter 48: Celebrations

Harry and Ron accepted the cup for the team since they were the captains. They lifted it above their heads and everyone cheered. The school was in a good mood after the match. Even the Slytherins stuck around to mingle with the other houses before they all headed up for dinner in the great hall. Harry and his friends hurried over to where the Weasleys were standing with Oliver and the scouts. "Great game Harry," Mr. Weasley said as Mrs. Weasley hugged all of them.

"Very well played Mr. Potter, I am Everett Smith, the head scout for the English team this is Ted Newman of the Wasps and Billy Goodman of the Cannons they also help scout for the national team." Smith said as Harry shook hands with each of them.

"Those were some very interesting moves you created," Newman told him. "Have you created other ones as well?"

"Yes, I have quite a few that I haven't had the chance to use in an official match yet." Harry told the man. "I even have a few that my team mates don't know about as I have only practiced them by myself." Harry and the three discussed his strategy for a while, leaving the others to talk amongst themselves.

"Hello Hermione," Oliver said with a smile. "How have you been? The twins said you are the Hogwarts Dueling Champion, that must have been fun."

"It's nice to see you again Oliver," She said with a large smile. "The tournament was a good time. It's too bad they hadn't thought of it when you were still here. How is everything going for you? Are you still with Puddlemore?"

Oliver grinned that she knew which team he played for since she used to always ignore Quidditch talk when he was in school. "Yes, I'm with them as well as I made the English National team for the World Cup Tournament. You'll have to come to the matches once Harry makes the team. Then you can show me those dueling skills of yours. I'm afraid I don't get too many opportunities to duel with my practice schedule." They talked for a few more minutes before Ron walked over to break them up.

"Come on you two! Let's head inside to eat so we can hurry up and get to partying!" Ron said always thinking of food. "You are staying tonight aren't you Wood? Dumbledore said it was alright for Fred, George and Lee. It'll be like old times!"

Hermione was excited that Wood would be staying. She also enjoyed the envious looks she got from the 6th and 7th year girls as he took the seat next to her at dinner and kept asking her about her school work. Lee was trying to convince Neville to be the new Quidditch commentator while the twins were busy trying to flirt with the 7th year girls. Ginny, Harry and Ron sat discussing the game and his chances of getting a tryout.

The scouts and remaining Weasleys had left before dinner. The teachers knew it would be difficult to control the students that night since they were all so riled up about the game. "I can't believe you guys sold all that stuff!" Harry said to Hermione and Neville. "I'm not sure about the 'Harry's My Hero' stuff, but it was still cool."

"We'll make a killing on selling that stuff once you make the national team," Fred commented. "Can you imagine how many girls will want posters of you in their bedrooms? Maybe we could sell them Harry Potter bed sheets so they can wrap themselves up in pictures of you!"

"Don't you dare!" Ginny said with a glare. "I don't care that so many girls want Harry but I draw the line at bed clothes or anything more intimate!" Harry chuckled and put his arm around her.

"I always thought it would be you and Harry that would get together," Oliver told Hermione quietly, almost leaning into her to speak into her ear. "Although I'm glad that I was wrong." He had always appreciated that Hermione wasn't like all the other girls, she was strong willed and extremely intelligent.

"Harry is like my brother," She said with a shy smile. "Besides, he's not mature enough for me. I have decided that there is no one here at school that I could date. I'll have to wait for university or hope I meet some dashing older man this summer someplace."

Oliver smiled and was about to make a smooth remark about her meeting a dashing older guy at a Quidditch match when they were interrupted by Lavender and the Patil Twins. "Hi Oliver! Can we get you to sign your picture that was in Witch Weekly?" Lavender said batting her eyelashes and holding out a magazine and quill. The three girls must have run up to their rooms to get the magazines. All three of them wanted autographs.

"Sure, I'm surprised you still even have this issue, it came out almost 6 months ago." He took the magazines and quill so he could sign them. He smiled to himself as he saw Hermione roll her eyes at her classmates before turning back to her dinner.

"We couldn't throw it away; it has your picture in it. You were such a great keeper when you played here." Parvarti told him with a little giggle as the other two nodded. He handed them the magazines back and turned back to his dinner. They hurried off to the other end of the table giggling like mad.

"Are those the girls that were always going on and on about Divination?" Oliver asked Hermione and groaned at her nod. "They used to hang all over me and offer to read my tea leaves." Hermione couldn't help the snort of amusement that popped out. Wood looked at her and grinned. "Will you help keep them away from me tonight? As the reigning dueling champion I would hope you could protect me from their insane giggling." Hermione laughed outright at that and agreed to help him. She liked that he was flirting with her and wanted to spend the party with her.

"Do you think I should go rescue Hermione from Wood?" Ron asked Ginny and Harry. "You know she doesn't like to talk about Quidditch all that much and he is sitting awfully close to her." Ron said with a look of distaste on his face.

"Leave Wood alone," Ginny told her brother. "Besides, he is a smart guy that can talk about more than just Quidditch. Let Hermione have a good time." Ginny winked at Harry as she saw Wood whisper something to their friend making her laugh.

"I don't think she needs to be rescued Ron," Harry told him carefully. Even though they were broken up and Ron was starting to see Susan he was easily jealous of anyone Hermione talked to. The fact that it was Oliver Wood, pro Quidditch keeper, didn't make things any easier. "She looks like she is enjoying herself. Wood's a great guy and if Susan is coming to the party she'll need someone to dance with."

The party filled the common room since there were so many students from other houses there. There was music as well as snacks. The twins were selling some of their sweets and other merchandise and were happy that Wood was keeping Hermione occupied so they could trick some of the younger students. "Do you want to dance?" Wood asked her as she saw Harry lead Ginny to the middle of the room where they had cleared space to dance. They made their way over to Harry and Ginny. Hermione tried not to laugh at the look on Lavender's face when Wood wrapped his arms tightly around her back.

The party was winding down and Hermione was actually sad to see it end. She was having a great time with Oliver. He was a great guy and she hoped she would see him again over the summer. "Will you promise to come to at least one of my matches this summer even if Harry's not on the team?" He asked her, looking deep into her honey brown eyes.

"As long as you keep your promise that I get to duel you," She said with a smile. "We need to get you trained enough to fend off all those adoring fan girls." They laughed and danced for a little longer.

"Can I write to you?" He asked as he brushed his lips against her ear. She shivered at the contact and nodded, unsure of her voice. "May I give you a goodnight kiss?" He asked knowing he was pressing his luck. Hermione couldn't believe it; he actually wanted to kiss her! She pulled her face back and gave him a smile. He leaned in and pressed his lips against hers. Hermione was in shock, she had never felt anything like that before. "Good night," he told her and kissed her cheek before leaving the common room with the twins.

Hermione sunk down onto one of the couches and stared blankly into the fire. Oliver had kissed her and she had liked it, a lot. It wasn't awkward like when she kissed Ron. It was short but it was electric. She felt like she was floating and couldn't wait to see him again. She hoped he would write to her and that she wasn't just a momentary distraction. He was a popular Quidditch player with fan girls; she hoped he actually liked her company.

Ron had been walking Susan to the portrait hole to walk back with Justin and Hannah when he saw Oliver kiss Hermione. He barely noticed Susan kiss him goodnight since he was glaring at Wood. He watched as Hermione sat dreamily on the sofa touching her fingers to her lips. She had never looked like that after he kissed her and that made him jealous. He had been certain they were meant to be together, but it had never been easy. He loved her and she loved him, just not in the way most couples love each other. He knew they were better off as just friends and he was very happy with Susan, he just hated the thought of Hermione with anyone else.

Ginny and Harry were sitting together on the sofa across from where Hermione plopped down. They had seen the kiss and grinned at each other. They were happy that Hermione was having a good time. "Uh oh," Ginny said and pointed to where Ron was standing a stiff as a board. "You better go talk to him before he says something stupid to her and she hexes him for it."

Harry knew it would take Ron a while to get over Hermione. He just didn't understand his best mate. Ron could go snog Susan and expect Hermione to be fine with it, but the minute she shows any interest in anyone he gets upset with her. "Why Wood?" Ron asked as Harry came over. "I could understand some smart college guy, but Wood is a Quidditch player, a keeper like me. If she wanted to date another Quidditch player why couldn't she have stayed with me?" Ron sighed. He knew he shouldn't be so upset. He had handled their breakup better than this. He just couldn't help but feel like his heart was just ripped out of his chest. His Hermione was kissing another guy. "I guess I just realized how over it was."

"Ron, can you tell me that you aren't happy with Susan? You were telling me yesterday how the two of you talk about Quidditch all the time and how you never get bored when talking to her and that she wants the same things you do. You told me how much you like how she feels in your arms and how you didn't realize snogging could be that much fun." Harry told his friend. "Do you want to give all that up?"

"No, why would I?" Ron asked snapping out of his depressing trance. "Susan is amazing and we are great together."

"You can only have one of them Ron. You can't be with Susan and not allow Hermione to move on as well. She's our best friend, don't let this interfere." Harry said.

"I understood the logic of our breakup from the start. She was right, we are better off as friends. But I loved her, I still love her in a way and it wasn't until I saw her with him that I finally felt my heart break. I expected this feeling to surface the night of the party in the room of requirement, it just took a slap in the face to make me realize that she isn't mine anymore." Ron told Harry with a shrug. "I'll be fine with it, I just need some time. I'm going to bed. That was a great game you played today Harry!"

Ginny moved over to sit next to Hermione once Harry left to talk to Ron. "You seemed to have a good time tonight," Ginny said with a sly smile. "We'll have to invite Oliver over this summer."

"Yeah," Hermione said with a smile. "He's rather nice don't you think. We'll have to go to all of the matches when Harry makes the team." Hermione turned to look at her best girl friend with a mischievous smile. "Did you see the looks on Lavender and Parvarti's faces when he sat by me at dinner."

"I personally enjoyed the looks they gave you when he held you so close in his arms while you two danced. He never left your side all night." Ginny said trying to pry details without asking directly.

"He was so sweet. He came up to me to say hello after the match and then sat by me at dinner. We talked about school and all kinds of things. He was flirting all through dinner, whispering things in my ear. He told me that since I am the dueling champion I had to protect him from Lav and the other girls." They laughed at that and Ginny urged her to continue. "He pulled me so close when we danced. I felt so safe and content in his arms. I didn't want the party to end! He made me promise to come to one of his matches and then he kissed me. Oh Gin, it felt so amazing and it was just one short little kiss! He said he would write to me. I really hope he does." They headed off to bed then as it was quite late and they were the only ones left in the common room.

"Just wait until Lavender hears that you kissed Oliver, she will have a fit!" Ginny laughed. "It'll be like the Yule Ball all over again. You should have heard them going on and on about how you snagged Victor Krum. Now that I think about it Hermione, you seem to have a thing for Quidditch players. First it was Krum, then Ron and now Oliver... I didn't think you liked Quidditch!" Ginny laughed as they got ready for bed.

"Oliver was second in his class only to Percy. If your brother hadn't been here he probably would have been a prefect and maybe even Head Boy." Hermione told her. "And he can hold an entire conversation without talking about Quidditch. The only time he mentioned it all night was when he asked me to come watch. I never told anyone before, but I had a crush on him in 3rd year. I knew the other girls thought he was cute, but he was always so nice to me."

"I'm glad you had a good time today," Ginny yawned. "I'm sure he'll write soon and you'll know that he has a crush on you now!"

Everyone was still talking about yesterday's game at breakfast. The Gryffindors were telling stories about the party to anyone who wasn't there. Ron was in a much better mood about Hermione, sleep had obviously helped him. "Ginny, do you think mum will let me invite Susan over for a week this summer?"

"It'll have to be during the first two weeks because afterwards she'd need Dumbledore's approval." Ginny told him. "Why don't you just owl mum and find out. The worst she can say is no."

"You should invite Susan to join EDA next year," Hermione told him. "She is good in DA and would make a good asset to the team and you obviously trust her."

"What if they break up, we don't want any hostility in EDA. We have to work smoothly with each other." Ginny cautioned, she was really just fishing to see how strongly Ron felt about the girl. They spent lots of time snogging, but he had never really mentioned if it was serious or not.

"I think it's a good idea," Ron said. "I'll see how things go over the summer and we can ask her to join at the start of next term." He turned slightly pink as he realized he didn't want to break up with the pretty Hufflepuff. "I don't think we'll break up, although we haven't really even said we were going out. She's really great and I think you guys would all like her."

"Well if you could break yourself away from her lips long enough to let her speak we might be able to get to know her better," Harry teased him. He didn't get a chance to make any more comments before the mail arrived. Harry looked up at the owls hopefully, he knew it was early but he really wanted that tryout invitation.

It seemed like the entire hall turned to watch him as a tawny owl landed in front of him. He pulled off the scroll and gave the owl some of his bacon before it flew off. He slowly opened the scroll. He just stared at the paper in front of him, unblinking and not comprehending. It was too good to be true, he had made the tryout. He was going to be able to try out for the national team as seeker! He turned to Ginny and wrapped his arms around her in a huge hug and whispered in her ear, "I got it."

Ginny grinned and jumped up, "You got it! Let me see!" She yelled pulling the parchment from him and squealing in delight. "He made it, he gets to try out!" She yelled across the hall and the entire student body cheered for him.

Hermione was so interested in what was happening with Harry she didn't even notice the owl sitting in front of her. She turned around surprised to see a beautiful eagle owl sitting in front of her with a parcel attached to his leg. She untied the box and offered the owl her toast before it hooted its thanks and flew back to its master. She looked curiously to the parcel in front of her and took the note from the top. It was from Oliver! He had written her a short letter.

_Hermione,_

_It was wonderful to see you yesterday. I had a great time. In fact I can't remember the last time I enjoyed someone's company as much as I enjoyed spending time with you. I hope we can stay in touch. I have a flat in London, perhaps you can visit sometime. We could go to the dance club in Diagon Alley with your friends. Given his performance yesterday, I'm sure I will be seeing much of Harry this summer. I hope that means I'll be seeing a lot of you as well. My apologies if my kiss last evening was too forward. Your beauty and intelligence has made me act like a school boy again. I hope to hear from you soon._

_Deepest Regards,_

_Oliver_

_P.S. Make sure you enlarge the box before you open it. I had to shrink it to make it easier for Max (my owl) to carry it. _

Hermione carefully arranged the box on the table and enlarged it to its proper size. She carefully untied the ribbon that held it closed and reached to take off the lid. She wondered what he had sent her. It was a long green rectangular box. She opened it to reveal a dozen roses in all different colors. She smiled and inhaled the scent of the flowers. There was another card that read:

_I didn't know what your favorite type of rose was, so I had to improvise. I hope at least one of them brings a smile to your beautiful face. Oliver_

Hermione grinned again and reached into the box to pull out a fire and ice rose, her favorite. They were red with white at their tips. She held it to her face and smiled, a dreamy expression crossing her face. Ginny turned to Hermione to ask her what she thought of Harry's chances when she noticed the flowers and the note. "Oh Hermione they are absolutely gorgeous! I can't believe he sent you a dozen roses!" Ginny was quite loud with her comment and quite a few heads turned to see what the fuss was.

"Who sent you the flowers Hermione?" Neville asked her. He also asked loudly as he was sitting almost 5 people away from her.

"They're from Oliver," She replied loving the gasp of shock from Lavender who was sitting farther down the table. She turned to Ginny and the two hurried to the girls' dorms to put the flowers in water.

"He sent her flowers after one little kiss?" Ron asked incredulously. "He must have it bad for her. I never sent her flowers." Harry just nodded and was glad that Oliver actually did like Hermione. She needed someone to have a good time with and Oliver could be just the wizard to bring her out of her shell for the summer. The boys then decided to head up to see Remus and discuss plans for the tryouts.

Hannah, Luna and Gabrielle each hurried after Hermione and Ginny so they could see who the flowers were from as well. They had seen her dancing with Wood and wondered if they were from him. The five girls spent the rest of the morning holed up in the prefect girls bedroom talking about boys. "That is so romantic," Hannah cooed. "Justin would never think to send flowers, especially without some occasion for them."

"Harry is actually very romantic. He tells me all the time that I am the most beautiful woman he's ever known. He even took me on a picnic in the astronomy tower for our 6 month anniversary." Ginny told them as they compared boyfriends.

"Draco is very sweet to me and such a gentleman too. He always gets the door for me and offers to push in my chair. He kisses my hand before placing it on his arm to walk me to class." Gabrielle told them all with a smile. "We are really starting to fall for each other. It's odd since we got together as a way to avoid relationships and now it's turning out that we actually care for each other."

"I'm glad you are falling in love, you need to love the man you're going to marry. I know that I won't marry unless I'm in love," Luna told them all. "Neville is a sweet guy but he is so shy it's hard to tell where the relationship is going. But I'm not in a hurry and it's not like anyone else has ever paid any attention to me anyway."

"Don't you think it's odd that we all have boyfriends now? Just last year it seemed like boys were the last thing we were worried about. Is it because we are getting older or did we just finally give in to them?" Hannah asked them all.

"It's normal for us to start to pair off at this age. Most wizards get married right after school is over and we are only a year or two away." Ginny told them all. "My parents were engaged before my mum even started her 7th year and Bill was born immediately after they got married. The wizarding world is different from the muggle world that way."

"Look at Draco and I. He had been betrothed to someone since he was 5 years old and that was only because it took his parents that long to find someone suitable. They would have had to look longer if the royals were not in hiding. He is a Count or a Duke or something like that and if the royal court was still around he would most likely have to marry another royal." Gabrielle told them.

"The royal line is the only one that has never intermarried. They are very particular with mixing bloodlines. I read that though they must marry a pureblood they must be at least 5 times removed so as to not diminish the houses power with intermarriage." Hermione told them. She had read some more on the royal family after Harry reminded her of them and his talk with Snape. "There used to be quite a lot of royal families and such but they have mixed with muggleborns and are no longer in the pool of eligible partners. In fact there are very few witches available and many of the royal wizards had to be married to non-royal purebloods just to keep their lines going."

"Yeah, all the royals that are anywhere close to our age are wizards. It seems they all had boys. That was one of the problems Draco told me about that his parents ran into when trying to find him a wife. The dark lord is the other problem; many of the royal families went into hiding as well when the king and queen left. They were scared the dark lord would kill them instead when he couldn't get a hold of the queen." Gabrielle said.

"Why did you-know-who want to kill the queen?" Ginny asked. Her mother refused to speak of the dark lord in their house so she never was told the reason the royal family went into hiding.

"She is the most powerful witch in the world. They all say that Dumbledore is the only wizard he is afraid of, but she is the only witch he ever feared. Supposedly he power is so pure that it emits an aura around her when she uses it. The aura is a trait of Merlin, a soft golden glow surrounding the witch or wizard. Only the heir to the throne inherits the power and the glow. Supposedly the heir comes into his or her powers when they are 18 but the queen was only 17 when she fought Grindlewald and during the fight she tapped into her powers and everyone could see the aura and was afraid of her power." Luna told them in her far away voice. "My mom used to work at the castle as an aid to the princess. My dad says the Kensingtons are the greatest of wizard kind and are not just England's but the wizarding world's royalty."

"Well I'm glad they are in hiding then," Ginny said quietly. "If they have to marry royalty then I wouldn't be able to be with Harry since he is royalty and I'm not." Everyone realized how horrible that would be and decided to change the subject to what they planned on wearing to the end of the year party they had to celebrate Harry's tryout and the end of exams.

Chapter 49: End of the Year Bash

Exams were over. Ginny and Luna had finished their OWLs and the end of the year party was later that night. Harry was sitting in Remus' living room talking with Tonks and him about Quidditch. "You'll have to play as Xavier then," Tonks was saying. They had decided that it wouldn't be safe for Harry to be in public view for the summer. He was much too tempting a target for the death eaters at Quidditch matches and they didn't want to risk the lives of the spectators should the death eaters attach during a game.

"We'll just announce that you don't want to put the public at risk by playing. Then we will say that you gave your letter to my nephew to try out since he was coming to London and had just lost his family. We will have you try out as X and they will either give you the spot based upon your tryout or not." Remus told him.

"At least I'd get to play that way," Harry commented. "Then when this whole war is over it will be fun to announce that X was me all along!" The small family laughed and decided to head down to lunch together. "When you two get back from your honeymoon you will be expected to attend every one of my games."

"Getting ahead of yourself there Harry, you have to make the team first!" Tonks joked and ruffled his hair.

"Nah, I'm just practicing my superior X attitude. Did I sound like a cocky pro Quidditch player? I think it might be fun to give him an attitude like Malfoy used to have of smug superiority." Harry told them and Remus laughed.

"Why don't you just copy Sirius' personality? He was smug and superior as well as playful and funny. You might have more fun playing Padfoot than the alternative. Besides if you act like Malfoy used to there is no way anyone would believe you get along with your friends and that might make for awkward questions." Remus told his son.

"I can't believe the year is over!" Ron moaned. "It went by so fast. We'll be going back home tomorrow. What are you doing over the first two weeks Hermione?"

"I'm going to go visit my grandparents for a few days and spend some quality time with my parents. I never get to see them anymore since I spend so much time in the magical world. Oliver is going to visit for a few days as well," She said blushing. They had been writing back and forth since the match and she didn't know when she would see him outside of Quidditch matches so she invited him to stay for a few days. "I don't think I'll have much time to spend with him over the summer with all my research and his Quidditch schedule so we thought a few days at my parents would be the only chance we get alone."

"What did your parents have to say about that?" Harry asked her surprised she would invite a wizard to her muggle parents house.

"They were hesitant to let him stay but I explained how busy I would be with professor Snape all summer and they gave in. I think my dad just wants to interrogate him and my mum is just happy I'll be spending any time at home." Hermione told them.

"So are you going to show him your room?" Ginny asked wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

"Gin!" Hermione said scandalized. "You know I'm not that kind of girl, honestly I think you and Harry are the ones we should worry about!"

"Hey! Ron is having Susan over as well so we should at least include him in this torture secession." Harry commented. "The way those two are joined at the lips all the time they might be the ones we need to worry about." They looked over to where Ron was sitting at the Hufflepuff table with his arm around Susan.

"At least he's happy." Hermione commented with a grin. "He was always upset that I didn't want him pawing me in public. She doesn't seem to mind his hands all over her!" They all laughed at that and finished their lunch and headed outside to enjoy their last day at Hogwarts for the year.

"Are you going to miss me over the next two weeks?" Ginny asked him seductively as they sat under an oak tree near the lake. Hermione was talking with Neville about some sort of hybrid flower so they didn't have to worry about being overheard. "I'm glad you have your own room at headquarters now, we won't have to worry about Ron catching us."

Harry grinned at her suggestive terms and leaned to whisper in her ear, "What would he be catching us doing my love?"

"Anything you want..." she said shyly and kissed him gently. "I love you Harry and I'm not worried about holding back any longer." They had gotten carried away in their snogging sessions a few times and had to give themselves mental cold showers to keep from doing anything they weren't ready for. They had gotten to third base and had been there for some time. Harry knew he loved Ginny and would wait forever until she was ready. He had never even mentioned going farther to her. He was shocked that she thought she was ready. They were both going to be 17 soon and he had determined he wouldn't touch her like that until she was at least of age.

"I love you too Ginny, but I'm not in a hurry. I won't take you until at least your birthday. I love you too much to rush you." He said as she kissed him passionately for being so unlike all other guys who would jump at the chance. "You can come to my room any night you like. I have always wanted to sleep with my arms wrapped around you."

"Will you two knock it off, you're making Neville blush with all your touchy feely lovey dovey crap," Draco drawled as he and Gabrielle joined the group by the lake. "Afraid she'll forget about you over the summer Potter?"

Harry realized there were many other students around and Draco was making sure they all believed the cover story. Harry would be staying at Hogwarts with Dumbledore over the summer since Remus and Tonks were going on honeymoon. Draco was going to stay at headquarters as well since his mother was taking off for their villa in France like every summer and he didn't want to stay in the manor by himself. He would also help with all the research projects that were on going for the order.

The girls all disentangled from the group an hour and a half before dinner and hurried to the Gryffindor prefect dorm to get ready for the party. "I have to look good tonight; I'm not going to see Justin for over a month!" Hannah said as she flipped through the hairstyle and makeup book that Lavender and Pavarti had given Hermione for Christmas. The five girls were determined to turn heads tonight.

"I loved the looks on their faces at the party in the room of requirement and I want to make them all stare again." Ginny said with an almost Slytherin smirk. "Besides, its fun to see the boys almost drooling over us!"

Ginny decided that since she went in Slytherin colors last time she should knock them dead in Gryffindor colors tonight. She wore a sparkly gold halter top. It had a gold hoop around the neck that acted as the halter and the material attached to the hoop in the front at her neck. The shirt showed almost all of her back. She was wearing red Capri pants of Hermione's that they charmed to be covered in golden colored phoenixes. The outfit was complete with gold strappy sandals, red nail polish and red lipstick. Her hair was pulled off her face in a loose plait with gold ribbons braided in. She knew she would knock Harry dead in that outfit.

Luna's outfit was still odd but looked very good on her. She was wearing a multi layered skirt, the under layer was bright blue and the over layer was yellow with cut outs so you could see the blue beneath. Then she had on an off the shoulder purple satin shirt with a bright blue tank top under it in case the top shirt slipped down. She had her hair pulled back with a yellow cloth hair tie and her typical funky earrings.

Hannah was wearing tight jeans that hugged her figure in all the right places. She was more filled out that some of the other girls and was able to wear a rather revealing top. The top was a rosy pink color with a very deep v-neckline. It was a sleeveless top that was scrunched on the sides to give it flair and make it show off her flat stomach. There was a matching even deeper v-cut in the back with strands of pink beads draped across the opening. She had on pink stiletto heals that Hermione charmed to feel like they were tennis shoes.

Gabrielle was wearing a sundress made of a floatey material that swayed seductively when she walked. It was a pale lilac in color and looked great with her silver hair. She was wearing silver ballet flats and had her hair tied back simply with a purple ribbon and silver accessories. She borrowed Ginny's amethyst stud earrings to complete the outfit. She looked great without being too seductive. She had to be careful not to attract too much attention with her Veela good looks.

Hermione looked ravishing. She was decked out in black wearing a very tight asymmetrical black top that had one strap over her left shoulder only. The strap was wide but had been gathered together and held with a dragon broach. She also had a long silver chain with a dragon pendent hanging from it. She was wearing a tight black mini skirt with silver details in the form of dragons on each back pocket and a string of runes around the hem of the skirt. If anyone bothered to translate the runes they read 'Not just a bookworm'. She was wearing calf high black leather boots with a 4 inch heal she had charmed to feel like her bedroom slippers and a silver belly chain around her waist. She had long dangling silver earrings that looked like a string of scales and her hair was charmed into ringlets that cascaded down her back. She had charmed her nails longer and painted them black with silver stars and her make up gave her an overall shimmery look. The look was completed with silver bangle bracelets and a silver dragon ring. She was very pleased with her outfit as she had spent all day yesterday making it.

The girls headed down to the great hall for the leaving feast. The paused outside the doors to the hall and grinned at each other wondering what the reaction would be to their outfits. Dumbledore had allowed them not to wear their uniforms and they were taking advantage of it now to show off before the party. Luna opened the doors and Hermione lead the group of girls into the hall. They separated and headed to their house table enjoying the looks they were getting from the boys throughout the hall. Hermione and Ginny grinned at each other and sat down next to Harry at the table. Ron was sitting across from them with Neville. "Wow, you look incredible Hermione," Ron said while trying to close his gaping jaw. "You too Ginny but you really shouldn't be wearing such revealing clothing. Mum would kill you if she saw that outfit and I don't like the way the guys are staring at you."

"So it's ok for you not to be able to take your eyes off Hermione's chest but not ok for me to wear a shit with an open back. So you're telling me its fine for everyone but me?" Ginny said chillingly. Ron could be such an overbearing git at times. Hermione smirked at Ron knowing he had put his foot in it.

"That's not what I'm saying." Ron said trying to defend himself. "I just want you to be careful that no one tries to grope you or anything." Rob shrugged knowing he had lost before he had even really started. The girls were old enough to wear whatever they wanted, so he would just sit back and enjoy. "I wonder if Susan will dress up for the party." He said with a smile as they waited for Dumbledore's leaving speech.

Snape was sitting at the head table glaring out at the students who were all in casual dress. He wanted to curse the headmaster for allowing such a thing. The students all looked ridiculous in their attempt at fashion. He was sure he would have a headache from all the different colors before the feast was over. He watched the hall doors open again and the five girls walk in confidently. His mouth went dry as he took in Hermione and her outfit. She looked great in black, he actually liked the color black that's why he always wore it. She turned to say something to Hannah and he could see the outline of a silver dragon on her backside and there were silver runes along the front of the skirt. He was trying to get the notion of finding out what her skirt said out of his head. She was a student; he shouldn't look at her like that! He shook his head and tried to clear his head before Dumbledore could figure out who he was looking at.

"Well it has been another fine year at Hogwarts. We have had struggles as well as successes. It is my great joy to see the four houses coming together in unity to fight our most feared foe. To our 7th years we wish you the very best in your futures, may you always look back fondly on your memories of these halls. To the rest may you have an enjoyable summer full of fun and adventure? It is now time to award the house cup! In fourth place with 215 points is Slytherin. In 3rd place with 389 points is Ravenclaw. In 2nd place with 413 points is Hufflepuff. And in 1st place, winning the house cup with a record high of 732 points is Gryffindor!" The hall broke into applause for the Gryffindors. "Now let us begin our feast!" He said as the plates filled with food before them.

"How did your students manage to get 732 points?" grumbled Snape as he sat next to Minerva. He knew the answer though. They earned 300 points just for the ones that fought against the death eaters, not to mention the points they earned for winning the Quidditch Cup and all the points for academics. Now that Potter and company were all prefects they never lost any points for breaking school rules and there were no reasons for him to take off points in class since both Potter and Granger always came prepared.

"You're just upset because your house came in last this year. We all finish last once in a while Severus. You should be glad you have that many points with the number of students that defected out of your house to join the dark forces." Minerva told him as she helped herself to treacle tart.

The feast was wonderful but they were all glad when it ended. The fourth years and below headed back to their common rooms as the 5th, 6th and 7th years prepared to party late into the night in the great hall. They were given permission for the party and the prefects helped plan it. The teachers would be coming and going throughout the night to check for miss behavior but they were basically left to their own devices.

"Can I dance with you Hermione?" Sylvester from Slytherin asked her almost immediately. "You look absolutely beautiful tonight."

"Thank you Sylvester and I will dance with you, just so you know that I am seeing someone now and we can only be friends," She told the pushy Slytherin as he led her to the dance floor.

"Poor Hermione," Gabrielle chuckled as she saw Sylvester corner her for a dance. "She should have known better than to dress like that and not expect her fan club to go nuts!"

"She looks great tonight, I'm sure Wood would will be upset he missed it," Draco smirked. "I think I'll have to suggest that every Slytherin guy ask her to dance just to show what happens when she shows up dressed in dragons."

Hermione was busy that night dancing with any boy who asked, surprisingly almost every Slytherin male asked her to dance. "She doesn't seem to mind dancing with all the guys from Slytherin Draco," Gabrielle told him as they made their way to the punch bowl. "If you want to make her uncomfortable you'll have to try harder. All you're doing now is encouraging her. She's positive she looks great now that all you boys have drooled all over yourselves."

Draco got an evil grin on his face as he saw the perfect solution walk into the room to check on the students. "Professor Snape sir," Draco said approaching his mentor. "I have a request sir, you see Hermione has danced with every Slytherin here except you and me and I was hoping you would dance with her as well so I can say she danced with every Slytherin male."

"Why would I want to dance with a student? Let alone a Gryffindor student?" Snape smirked at the blond boy.

"Because she is decked out in silver dragons and dressed to kill and I wanted to teach her a lesson in playing with fire, sir." Draco said with a matching smirk. "Once you dance with her, I can dance with her and tell her why. Please sir," Draco whined knowing how much Snape hated whining.

"Shut up already Malfoy." Snape snapped as he made his was over to the stupid little chit his students had seemed to all fall for. Not that he could blame them though; even he wasn't immune to her charms, though he was loath to admit it. He grinned a feral grin and offered the girl his hand. "Would you care for a dance Miss Granger?"

Hermione was glad when she realized the only Slytherin left to dance with was Malfoy and she would be done with parade of serpent students. Then she saw Snape approach and knew she shouldn't have tempted fate with the dragon motif. The pesky Slytherins were awful protective of dragons and snakes. Snape asked her to dance in that velvety smooth voice of his and she took his hand as he led her to the dance floor. She was surprised by how warm his hand was, she had always imagined him to be cold. He placed his hand firmly on her lower back and grasped her hand commandingly before leading her gracefully around the floor. "You dance very well Professor," Hermione said with a small smile to her soon to be research partner.

"Classes are over for the year Hermione. We are now colleagues until they resume again. You may start calling me Severus as we will be spending so much time together." He told her without his usual sneer.

Hermione loved the sound of her name when he said it. The way it rolled off his tongue in that purr made her shiver. "I look forward to our research this summer Severus," she told him as he pulled her slightly closer at the sound of his name on her tongue. He had finally translated the runes on her skirt and smirked to himself.

"So if you are not just a bookworm, what else are you Hermione?" He purred into her ear as they danced. He knew she didn't expect anyone to translate the runes or she would have made it less provocative.

"Perhaps you shall find out this summer Severus," She told him with a smirk. "What fun would it be if I told you? It's always more interesting to figure it out for yourself." She was surprised she had the nerve to say such a thing to their normally snarky potions professor.

"I can tell you are more than what you seem. Most other women would be too scared to dance with every Slytherin in the school. Perhaps you wore those silver dragons just to see the reactions of the serpent house?" Snape said evenly just as the song ended. He released her and bowed to her regally.

"Thank you for the dance Severus. I shall see you at the wedding," She told him and headed over to her friends who were still looking at her strange for dancing with Snape. Snape hurried out of the hall before he was forced to dance with any other student. He had enjoyed the feel of the young Gryffindor in his arms and wanted to savor that feeling for the rest of the evening. He knew it was wrong, but it had been quite some time since he had last held a woman in his arms.

"Why were you dancing with Snape?" Ron asked as if she had done something truly disgusting. "Him and every other Slytherin in the school! If I didn't know better I'd say you had a thing for someone in that house!"

"Severus and I were just discussing our research project for the summer and the rest of them are asking me to dance because I'm wearing silver dragons. I think Malfoy put them up to it. It's ok though, I am enjoying the attention and they all dance quite well. Even Crabbe and Goyle avoided stepping on my feet." Hermione told them with a small laugh. Susan was looking at her like she had grown a second head and Harry and Ginny were smirking and Neville looked like he would be ill. "What?"

"You called him by his first name!" Ron said, "What's up with that?"

"He and I are working together all summer as colleagues, not as professor and student. Dumbledore asked that we refer to each other in less formal tones while we work this summer and Snape said that since classes were over we were to start now." Hermione told them all trying not to roll her eyes at the frightened look on Susan's face.

"Hermione, darling. You look absolutely ravishing tonight. It's no wonder Severus couldn't keep his hands off of you." Draco drawled from behind her. He had heard her explanation and decided to play with her a little. "I do hope he will be able to contain himself this summer as his room is next to mine and I'm a light sleeper." Hermione had turned around to face Draco when he arrived and could hear Susan gasp and knew Ron was glaring and Harry and Ginny laughing and Neville was probably trying to keep his dinner down.

"I've told you before Draco dear, I don't want Severus... I want you." Hermione purred with a smirk. "Come dance with me before that hussy you call your intended wants you back." She then pulled him to the dance floor and they danced closely together for show both laughing silently.

"That was a good showing Granger, I have to give you credit. Bones looked like she was going to pass out and I'm afraid Longbottom is going to have nightmares for years." Draco chuckled.

"It's a shame I didn't have time to insinuate a threesome with both of you, which should have put them in the hospital wing until next term started." Hermione laughed. "Did you really need to tell them all to dance with me? I did enjoy myself, but really Dragon!" Hermione and Ginny were both calling him Dragon as a nickname when they were alone with the boy as it was so appropriate.

"Did you pick out that outfit just for me then?" He asked her teasingly. Over the last two months they had gotten to be closer friends and he was looking forward to spending the summer hanging out with her.

"Well Ginny went Slytherin to the last party so I figured I should try it this time. Besides, I actually like dragons. I knew it would turn some heads so it made it even better. I plan on keeping the outfit and wearing it out to the club in Diagon Alley in a few weeks." She told him with a smile. "It should keep Oliver on his toes."

"He'll have to keep a tight hold on you or you'll be swept up by us Slytherins." Draco laughed. "Can Gabrielle and I come with you two to the club? I love to dance and promised I would take her this summer. My birthday isn't until August so we'll have to go with a fully qualified witch or wizard. What do you say, will you take us with you oh great witch?" Hermione laughed and promised they would all go out.

Dumbledore came in at midnight and told them to head to bed as the train was leaving right after breakfast. The prefect stayed to help the Head Girl and Boy clean up the hall and to have a last good bye with their head students. Hermione was not all that impressed with the way the Head Boy and Girl ran things this year and was determined that she would do a better job if she was awarded that honor. Plus she wouldn't mind her own room and bathroom!

Chapter 50: Train Ride Home

The four friends shared a cabin by themselves on the ride home as was tradition. Even Ron didn't seem to mind being separated from Susan for a few hours. She was going home with him to the Weasley's for the first week of the summer holiday and he was ecstatic. Ginny was upset that she wouldn't see Harry and Hermione for two weeks but Hermione reminded her she was going to visit Charlie for a week of it anyway and it wouldn't seem like long at all.

"I can't believe I'm going home. To my actual real home with my real family. Not to the Dursley's where I would be miserable, but home. It's an amazing feeling. I always used to think of Hogwarts as home, until now." Harry said with a huge grin and his arm draped around Ginny's shoulder.

They played exploding snap until the lunch trolley came and as usual Harry bought them their treats and they tucked in to the magical candies and cakes. "I'm going to miss the rest of the EDA that isn't in the order," Ginny commented. "It feels weird to keep secrets from them. I know we can trust Colin and Dennis and Hannah and Justin."

"I'm sure if they were of age Dumbledore would let them join, but as it is they are still living with their parents who have not idea what the Order is and we can't risk the fact that their parents may not be as trustworthy as they are." Harry told them with a shrug. "That's why I was surprised they talked to your parents about it Hermione. It wouldn't be something I would think they would disclose to muggles."

"I'm not sure what they told them actually. I wasn't there, Dumbledore went by himself and my parents haven't asked any questions. They ask about lots of things, but when it comes to the darker side of magic their curiosity runs out. I can't say I blame them. I wouldn't want to know about a curse than can kill me with two words I had not way to defend myself or my family. I'm sure my dad feels safer not knowing than knowing the whole story." Hermione added.

"What if he told them everything and they are just too scared to ask you about it?" Ginny asked her.

"I don't know but I have a feeling my mum wants to talk to me about some important thing the two weeks I'm there. She said that my grandma and she had been discussing my future and there are some things that I need to know about our family." Hermione said. "I'm kind of worried about that conversation since my grandparents don't know about me being a witch or anything about magic. They think Hogwarts is a boarding school for overachievers like me."

"Are you ever going to tell them about being a witch?" Ron asked. "Because they will need to know if you ever want them to come to your wedding. A wizarding hand fasting uses magic to join the couple."

"I have plenty of time to worry about that later. I still don't plan on getting married until I'm done with university." She told him with a laugh. "I know wizards traditionally marry young, but I have never been traditional in anything I've done, why start now?"

The were discussing all the things they wanted to do over the break They liked Hermione's idea of going to the dance club a few times. "That will be a lot of fun. Maybe we can go shopping for new club clothes in muggle London so we have new things to wear next year." Ginny said to Hermione.

"I'm not sure mum will let us go," Ron told them sadly. "You know how protective she is of us."

"We are fully qualified now Ron, she can't baby us too much if we can use magic outside of school. We get to get our apparating licensees as well! That should be a way cool test!" Ginny said excitedly.

"I'm actually going to get my license as soon as we get to London. I told my parents I wouldn't be home until late and that I had a ride home. I'll get my license and appartate home." Hermione told them all.

"What if you don't pass?" Ron asked her. "How will you get home then?"  
"Ron, when has Hermione ever got less than perfect on an exam?" Harry asked his friend. "She has read everything there is to know about the subject, there is no way she will fail. And even if she did, she could always call the Knight Bus."

"When are you going to get yours Harry?" She asked him with a big smile at his confidence in her abilities.

"Later this week with Remus, we have some last minutes wedding stuff to take care of and need to go to Diagon Alley so we'll just stop by the ministry first." Harry told her with a smile.

"I can't wait for the wedding. It's so exciting that they are getting married. It's weird to think they have been dating less than a year and are already getting married." Hermione said with a far off look on her face. She loved weddings.

"Why are you excited? You have to spend half the day hanging off of Snape! O still can't believe that Remus chose him to be his other attendant." Ron griped.

"Severus and Remus are friends Ronald. You see, some people are able to see around his 'bastard professor' mask and realize he is not a bad person. He just has to act like that to keep the death eaters fooled." Hermione told him sternly. "You better be nicer to him over the summer. If you go around being rude he's going to be in a bad mood and we won't get as much work done."

"How can you say that I'm being rude, he always takes points and gives detentions for no reason?" Ron said.

"Hermione's right Ron. Snape has been much more pleasant to us since Christmas. He and Harry are even getting along, why can't you just let the past go?" Ginny asked her brother. "Or are you still sore about Malfoy's comment from last night? You know he was just trying to bait Hermione. There is nothing going on between her and Snape!"

"What about the way he had his arms wrapped around her when they were dancing and he even whispered in her ear!" Ron yelled then looked to the floor when he realized he had been tricked into saying why he was mad at Snape. He couldn't look at Hermione, he knew she would be upset that he was jealous again.

"Ron, do you remember that talk we had after the party when we beat Slytherin?" Harry asked as Ron nodded yes. "We aren't going to have to have that talk again are we?" Ron shook his head no in defeat. He knew he was overreacting, but he still hated the thought of Hermione in another man's arms.

"I'm sorry Hermione, I'm a git. Please don't be mad." Ron said quietly without looking up.

Hermione put her arm around him and made him look at hr eyes. "Ron, I'm sorry if my being with Oliver upset you at the party. I never intended to hurt you, ever. You're my best friend and I love you like a brother." She paused to smile at him before continuing. "But I refuse to apologize for dancing with Severus. He and I are going to be spending an ungodly amount of time together this summer. We may be stuck in the lab sleeping in shifts for days. I do not EVER want to hear about you being jealous of him or insinuating there is something other than potions research being done. Are we clear?" She asked firmly.

"Yes, and I'm sorry. I will try my best." Ron said knowing he had gotten off luck that she didn't hex his private parts for insinuating there was something going on with her and Snape.

"Good, because if you don't and we play truth or dare again you'll be the one they will wonder if has feelings for the potions master. Not to mention that you'll hope Madame Pomfrey is visiting after I finish hexing you." Hermione said with a smile watching as the color drained from Ron's face.

Ginny broke the tense silence by giggling imagining Hermione hexing Ron in places not even Mrs. Weasley would be comfortable healing. They spent the rest of the trip playing cards and talking about all the adventures they had had that year.

When they got to King's Cross station they piled off the train. Hermione was sending Crookshanks with Harry and Remus since she was only going to be at her parents for two weeks and Crooks hated to travel. She shrunk her trunk and put it in her pocket before helping the others with their stuff.

"Hello Hermione dear," Mrs. Weasley said giving Hermione a big motherly hug. "Have a good time with your parents and send my regards."

"Sure Mrs. Weasley, I'll see you in a couple of weeks at the wedding." Hermione smiled as she hurried off to say good bye to her friends. Harry and Remus were standing by Tonks so Hermione hurried over to leave them her cat. "Thanks for taking Crookshanks," she told Tonks who was petting her familiar hello. "He hates lots of traveling so there is no point taking him home just for two weeks."

"No problem, I bet he misses being at headquarters anyway. It's almost as much fun for a cat as Hogwarts." Tonks said as they got ready to leave. They were taking a portkey and it would activate in a few minutes.

"See you all in a few weeks!" Hermione called with a smile as they disappeared. She then hurried out to hail a cab to take her close to the phone booth entrance to the ministry of magic.

"Hello Susan, it is nice to finally meet you. We are glad you were able to stay for a while." Mrs. Weasley said trying to put the girl at ease. "Come along now, we need to get back so I can get dinner ready before your father gets home."

They all left for the burrow using the floo. Susan didn't know what to make of the burrow. Ron had tried to explain it to her but she still couldn't imagine that the minister of magic would live in anything other than a mansion, yet here she was.

"Come on Susan, I'll show you to your room. You get Percy's room since he is still a git." Ginny said and drug the other girl up the stairs.

Draco and Gabrielle were heading to Malfoy manor for a week before Draco's mother took off for France. They took the floo and were quickly greeted by the house elves that relieved them of their baggage. "Come on, I'll show you to your room. I made sure to put you right down the hall from me in case you need anything in the middle of the night. Just so you know, my mother's room is on the other side of the manor." Draco said with a wink as they headed up the stairs. "We'll join my mother for dinner later."

"Thank you for inviting me Draco," Gabrielle said sweetly. She knew that they would either fall in love or end up disliking each other after living so closely this summer. She was fairly certain she was already half way in love with him, but she was afraid of that as well.

"Anything for you my love," Draco said kissing her soundly before opening her door to show her the beautiful room he had set up for her.

"Welcome home Harry," Remus said when they appeared in the sitting room.

"Thanks dad, it feels great to be here finally." Harry said as he hugged the only father he had ever known. "I'm glad my family is finally going to be together," he said pulling Tonks into the hug as the small family enjoyed each others company for a while before heading off to unpack.

Harry looked around the room that had once belonged to his godfather and smiled at the photo of Remus, Sirius and his father on his dresser. "Yes, I am finally home."

The End

Will be continued as a separate story for the summer and the gang's 7th year.


End file.
